Today the Federal Communications Commission's rules barring internet providers from blocking or slowing content, or giving special treatment to certain content, were wiped off the books, following an FCC vote last December. But don't expect to see huge changes right away.

First, there are still some rules constraining broadband providers. Several states, including New York and Washington, have passed regulations that ban or discourage internet providers from favoring certain content based on payments from content providers. Comcast, the nation's largest broadband provider, is temporarily forbidden from violating net neutrality under the terms of the government's approval of its 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal; that restriction expires in September. Charter, the second-largest home broadband provider, is required to uphold net neutrality until 2023 under the terms of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in 2016.

Meanwhile, most major internet providers have promised not to block, throttle, or discriminate against legal content. But net neutrality activists don't want to take the companies at their word. They’re fighting to block the FCC's December decision in both Congress and the courts while also working to pass new state laws.

The most immediate battle to save net neutrality is legislation that would effectively force the FCC to bring back the rules the FCC approved in 2015. Under the Congressional Review Act, or CRA, Congress, with the approval of the president, can not only reject regulations issued by a federal agency but effectively bar that agency from taking similar action again.

Legislation overturning the FCC's December decision passed the Senate in May with three Republicans and all Democrats and independents voting in favor. The next step would be a vote in the House, where it needs more than 20 Republicans to support it before the end of the year.

US Representative Mike Doyle (D-Pennsylvania), who introduced the legislation in the House, filed a petition last month that would force a vote if a majority of House members sign it. That’s a tall order; to date, 170 members have signed. But it might be doable, given the bipartisan support for net neutrality. A recent Morning Consult poll found that 60 percent of registered voters, including 63 percent of Republicans, support the idea of net neutrality. An earlier poll by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland, which attempted to explain both sides of the issue to respondents, found that 83 percent favored keeping the FCC's net neutrality rules, including 75 percent of Republicans.

Former FCC lawyer Gigi Sohn points out that last year when Republicans used the CRA to kill Obama-era internet privacy rules, 15 House Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats to save the protections. Sohn argues that more Republicans could have been persuaded to vote against the legislation if there had been more time. And activists have won against long odds before. For example, in 2012 public pressure persuaded Congress to kill an intellectual property bill known as SOPA/PIPA.

Even if the measure passes the House, it will need to be signed by the president, who hasn't been supportive of net neutrality in the past. But Free Press policy director Matt Wood points out that the administration is unpredictable and has embraced more populist policies at times, such as its opposition to AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner.

The CRA isn’t the only attempt in Congress to address net neutrality. Last year, Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), a long-time critic of net neutrality, proposed a bill that would ban internet service providers from blocking content, while allowing “fast lanes.” It would also ban states from passing their own net neutrality laws and limit the FCC’s authority over broadband. Last month, during the Senate’s debate over the CRA, Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) said he would reintroduce a similar bill he first introduced in 2015 that bans paid prioritization, but likewise limits the FCC’s role in overseeing broadband. Neither bill covers broadband providers’ use of data caps or the obscure but important behind-the-scenes deals they make with each other. Net neutrality advocates have generally seen both bills as inadequate or even harmful. “At the end of the day this bill is a cynical attempt to distract GOP lawmakers who are considering voting for the CRA to restore MUCH stronger, REAL #NetNeutrality protections,” the group Fight for the Future tweeted last month about Thune’s proposal.

Some state governments, meanwhile, aren't waiting for Congress. Washington became the first state to pass net neutrality protections in March. Last month, the California state senate passed a net neutrality bill that would actually offer stronger protections than the Obama-era FCC rules. The bill is now awaiting a vote by the California Assembly before moving on to Governor Jerry Brown. New York state lawmakers are considering a similar bill. If both bills pass, that would give 17 percent of the country stricter protections than they enjoyed under the Obama-era rules.

New York is also among the several states that have taken a more indirect approach to ensuring net neutrality. In January, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order that banned state agencies from doing business with internet providers that don't agree to uphold net neutrality. The governors of Montana, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Vermont have signed similar orders, and Oregon passed a similar state law.

Broadband providers claim that these state-level rules would burden them with a "patchwork" of rules. The telecommunications industry group US Telecom has vowed to challenge state rules in court. That could come to a head soon, because the FCC order taking effect to revoke the Obama-era rules also bans states from passing their own laws. Legal experts are unsure whether that ban will hold up in court. Marc Martin, a former FCC staffer who is chair of law firm Perkins Coie's communications practice, told WIRED earlier this year that while it's not clear if state level protections such as those in Washington will withstand legal challenge, the executive orders are on more solid footing because states have broad authority to choose how they spend their budgets. "I wonder if anyone will even fight it," Martin says.

Perhaps the biggest cloud of uncertainty is whether the FCC could legally repeal the Obama-era rules. A law called the Administrative Procedure Act bans federal agencies from making "arbitrary or capricious" decisions. Net neutrality advocates have sued the FCC in federal court, arguing that voting to revoke them less than three years after they were passed in early 2015 is capricious.

The lawsuit was initially filed by several state attorneys general, and was joined by advocacy groups, industry groups, and by companies including Etsy and Kickstarter. But a timeline for the case has yet to be approved, says Wood of Free Press, one of the organizations involved in the suit. It will take months for the two sides to file briefs and responses. It's possible that a court will reach a decision by early 2019, but it could easily be at least a year from now before a decision is reached, Wood says.

While Congress can block the FCC from trying to revoke net neutrality laws again, the outcome of the court case will be less final. If the FCC loses the case, the agency would be free to try again to dismantle net neutrality. And if the FCC wins, it could actually make it easier for Democrats to restore net neutrality rules the next time the party controls the White House.

That means regardless of what happens in court, the fight is far from over.
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• Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories </s> The Federal Communication Commission's rules preventing Internet service providers from blocking or slowing legal traffic, or charging for faster delivery of some content, passed with much hubbub in 2015, will be history on June 11.

Those so-called net neutrality rules will be replaced by a set of lighter-touch regulations passed five months ago. The new rules, the Restoring Internet Freedom order approved by the FCC in December 2017, requires ISPs to disclose any blocking, throttling or prioritization of their own content or from their partners. But they aren't prevented from doing so. ISPs have said they won't block or throttle legal websites, though they've left open the potential for charging more for some data delivery.

The order will go into effect next month. Originally, it was expected the rules would take effect in April, but the Office of Management and Budget needed additional time to vet the new regulations.

“Now, on June 11, these unnecessary and harmful Internet regulations will be repealed and the bipartisan, light-touch approach that served the online world well for nearly 20 years will be restored," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement Thursday. Pai, a Republican, who voted against the 2015 rules enacted under an Obama-era FCC, was appointed chairman by President Trump in January 2017.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai takes a drink from a mug during an FCC meeting where the FCC will vote on net neutrality, Dec. 14, 2017, in Washington.

More: Thousands of Facebook ads bought by Russians to fool U.S. voters released by Congress

Under the new rules, the Federal Trade Commission will be the agency to handle complaints about broadband privacy and unfair or deceptive business practices by ISPs. "We look forward to working closely with the FTC to safeguard a free and open Internet," Pai said.

Some Congressional Democrats aren't comforted by Pai's assurances and are seeking a repeal of their own -- the overturning of the 2017 order that overturns the 2015 rules. Senate Democrats on Wednesday said they have the support -- 49 Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine -- for a Congressional Review Act vote to undo the Pai-led FCC's measure.

A vote is expected next week in the Senate. However, in the U.S. House, a CRA measure needs more Republicans to reach a majority vote. And even if that is accomplished, the measure requires approval by President Trump.

That's unlikely as Trump had called the Obama-era rules a "power grab."

Other actions underway by supporters of the original 2015 net neutrality rules: 

 State attorneys general in 23 states and the District of Columbia have filed suits challenging the 2017 rules. And several governors have passed executive orders requiring ISPs doing business with the state follow Net-neutrality conduct.

More: Net-neutrality is over. Now California, Oregon are stepping in

More: Net neutrality rules are dead. Will my Internet bills go up? </s> Net neutrality is officially a thing of the past. A new set of rules at the Federal Communications Commission went into effect Monday, ending consumer protections that assure equal legal broadband access that doesn't slow or block certain sources. Some consumers fear a slower Internet and higher costs for broadband delivery.

The FCC changes were passed last December, shepherded by Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who says the new lighter-touch rules are more market-friendly than the "utility-style regulation" in the Obama-era.

"Monday, we are ending this flawed approach and allowing smaller internet service providers to focus their efforts on deploying more broadband, connecting more Americans with digital opportunity, and offering more competition in the marketplace," Pai wrote in a column for CNET published Sunday.

Under the new law, ISPs are required to disclose any blocking, throttling or prioritization of their own content or from their partners on customers' broadband connections.

Providers have said they won't block or throttle legal websites, but have left open the potential for charging more for transport of some data.

Supporters of net neutrality argue that ISPs should deliver access to online content and apps equally, and prefer rules the FCC passed in 2015. Those Obama-era rules prevented ISPs from blocking or slowing legal traffic, or from being paid for prioritized, faster delivery.

Since Pai's passage of the Restoring Internet Freedom order, supporters of net neutrality have taken several approaches to prevent the new rules from going into effect. More than 20 states have sued the FCC, and several governors have passed executive orders requiring ISPs doing business with their states to uphold net neutrality.

Some Congressional Democrats are seeking a repeal of their own, the overturning of the 2017 order that ends the 2015 rules. The Senate last month passed a Congressional Review Act measure 52-47 aiming to overturn the 2017 measure (the CRA is a quick way to overturn newly-passed regulations within 60 legislative days of passage).

But a battle for votes in the House remains. Nearly 50 more House lawmakers must sign a discharge petition introduced by Congressman Mike Doyle in order to force a vote.

Currently, 170 House lawmakers have signed that petition. If the House votes on and passes the bill before the end of this session, the measure would be sent to President Trump. His approval would be highly unlikely since Trump had called the Obama-era rules a "power grab."

Still, supporters have hoped to force a public vote on the issue, because with midterm elections looming some lawmakers might be swayed as net neutrality is a resonant issue with voters.

More: Senate votes for net neutrality return, but major hurdles remain

More: It's finally happening: Net neutrality rules that sparked intense debate to end next month </s> Along with allowing ISPs to more deeply affect what content you see and the speed with which you can access it, the new rules also shift oversight away from the FCC and over to the FTC. Under Chairman Tom Wheeler, the FCC classified broadband internet as a Title II service, putting it in line with utilities like telephone service and electricity. But in December, the FCC switched broadband back to a Title I classification, giving the FTC some of the regulatory authority the FCC previously had over ISPs and negating the legal authority the FCC had to ban practices like blocking, throttling and paid prioritization. Chairman Ajit Pai has said the previous setup was "heavy-handed" and that this newer "light touch" approach will spur more investment and innovation.

There are many outspoken opponents of the FCC's move, though, including state governments, tech companies, rights groups and attorneys general. At least 29 states have introduced more than 65 bills aimed at protecting net neutrality and seven states -- Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Montana, Rhode Island, Oregon and Vermont -- enacted executive orders that made it illegal for state agencies to enter contracts with ISPs that don't uphold net neutrality. So far, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have passed net neutrality legislation and California's Senate passed a net neutrality bill last month. Additionally, 22 states' and Washington DC's attorneys general have filed a lawsuit alongside nearly a dozen other groups, challenging the FCC decision.

As for Congress, the Senate issued a vote to overturn the decision in May and the House of Representatives now has the opportunity to do the same. As of now, 171 Representatives have agreed to vote against the FCC decision, 47 short of the 218 needed for that vote to be successful. If House net neutrality supporters can get those last votes, which is unlikely, the decision would still need to be signed by President Trump who is expected to veto it if it ever came to that.

So net neutrality's path through Congress is an uphill battle, but some are still optimistic that net neutrality will win out in the end. "Hold the obituaries. Net neutrality is not dead," Fight for the Future Deputy Director Evan Greer said in a statement. "Ajit Pai's absurd repeal of basic free speech protections is the most unpopular decision in the history of the FCC, and it will not stand. The Senate already passed a historic bipartisan resolution disapproving the repeal. Now the entire internet is laser focused on getting the House of Representatives to do the same."

Even if the vote doesn't make it through the House, these efforts are forcing politicians to publicly choose a side on the matter, decisions that could affect how successful their reelection campaigns are in the future. "The internet is coming for net neutrality," said Greer. "There is nowhere to hide. Any lawmaker, of any party, that fails to sign the discharge petition in support of the CRA will regret it come election time."

And while a new administration in 2020 could, in theory, return the rules back to what they were, a more permanent decision still lies with Congress. How deeply future legislation might protect net neutrality will largely depend on which representatives are writing and voting on it, which means upcoming elections are very important for the fate of net neutrality. If you're interested in letting your representatives know where you stand on net neutrality and how you'd like them to vote, you can see a tally of who has and hasn't agreed to support net neutrality here. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission said in a notice Thursday that landmark 2015 U.S. open-internet rules will cease on June 11.

The FCC in December repealed the Obama-era “net neutrality” rules, allowing internet providers to block or slow websites as long as they disclose the practice. The FCC said the new rules will take effect 30 days from Friday.

An FCC spokeswoman confirmed the new rules will take effect on June 11.

A group of states and others have sued to try to block the new rules from taking effect. The revised rules were a win for internet service providers like AT&T Inc (T.N) and Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) but are opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O).

The U.S. Senate is set to vote as early as next week on whether to reject the FCC repeal of the net neutrality rules.

Proponents currently have the backing of 47 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats, as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. With the prolonged absence of Republican Senator John McCain due to illness, proponents believe they will win on a 50-49 vote.

Senator Ed Markey said it was “likely” the vote will take place in the middle of next week. On Wednesday, senators officially filed a petition to force a net neutrality vote and 10 hours of floor debate under the Congressional Review Act.

The FCC voted 3-2 to reverse Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain online content. Once they take effect, the new FCC rules would give internet service providers sweeping powers to change how consumers access the internet but include new transparency requirements that require them to disclose any changes to consumers.

If the Senate approves the measure, it would not likely pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. If the legislation were to pass the House, it is expected that President Donald Trump would veto it.

In February, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general refiled legal challenges intended to block the Trump administration’s repeal of net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has often said he is confident the agency’s order will be upheld.

Democrats have said they believe the issue would be key in November’s midterm congressional elections, especially among younger internet-savvy voters.

Republicans have said the FCC repeal would eliminate heavy-handed government regulations, encourage investment and return the internet to pre-2015 rules. </s> Proponents of net neutrality protest against Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai outside the American Enterprise Institute before his arrival May 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Pai, appointed to the FCC by President Obama in 2012, became chairman in January when President Trump appointed him. Pai initiated a process to overturn net neutrality rules passed two years ago by the FCC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 700044890 ORIG FILE ID: 679317438

Net neutrality is officially a thing of the past. A new set of rules at the Federal Communications Commission went into effect Monday, ending consumer protections that assure equal legal broadband access that doesn't slow or block certain sources. Some consumers fear a slower Internet and higher costs for broadband delivery.

The FCC changes were passed last December, shepherded by Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who says the new lighter-touch rules are more market-friendly than the "utility-style regulation" in the Obama-era.

"Monday, we are ending this flawed approach and allowing smaller internet service providers to focus their efforts on deploying more broadband, connecting more Americans with digital opportunity, and offering more competition in the marketplace," Pai wrote in a column for CNET published Sunday.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai takes a drink from a mug during an FCC meeting where the FCC will vote on net neutrality, Dec. 14, 2017, in Washington.

Under the new law, ISPs are required to disclose any blocking, throttling or prioritization of their own content or from their partners on customers' broadband connections.

Providers have said they won't block or throttle legal websites, but have left open the potential for charging more for transport of some data.

Supporters of net neutrality argue that ISPs should deliver access to online content and apps equally, and prefer rules the FCC passed in 2015. Those Obama-era rules prevented ISPs from blocking or slowing legal traffic, or from being paid for prioritized, faster delivery.

Since Pai's passage of the Restoring Internet Freedom order, supporters of net neutrality have taken several approaches to prevent the new rules from going into effect. More than 20 states have sued the FCC, and several governors have passed executive orders requiring ISPs doing business with their states to uphold net neutrality.

Some Congressional Democrats are seeking a repeal of their own, the overturning of the 2017 order that ends the 2015 rules. The Senate last month passed a Congressional Review Act measure 52-47 aiming to overturn the 2017 measure (the CRA is a quick way to overturn newly-passed regulations within 60 legislative days of passage).

But a battle for votes in the House remains. Nearly 50 more House lawmakers must sign a discharge petition introduced by Congressman Mike Doyle in order to force a vote.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., center, accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., left, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., right, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 16, 2018, after the Senate passes a resolution to reverse the FCC decision to end net neutrality.

Currently, 170 House lawmakers have signed that petition. If the House votes on and passes the bill before the end of this session, the measure would be sent to President Trump. His approval would be highly unlikely since Trump had called the Obama-era rules a "power grab."

Still, supporters have hoped to force a public vote on the issue, because with midterm elections looming some lawmakers might be swayed as net neutrality is a resonant issue with voters.

More: Senate votes for net neutrality return, but major hurdles remain

More: It's finally happening: Net neutrality rules that sparked intense debate to end next month </s> The Federal Communications Commission said in a notice Thursday that 2015 landmark U.S. open internet rules will cease around June 10.

WASHINGTON: The Federal Communications Commission said in a notice on Thursday that landmark 2015 U.S. open-internet rules will cease on June 11, and new rules handing providers power over what content consumers can access will take effect.

The FCC in December repealed the Obama-era "net neutrality" rules, allowing internet providers to block or slow websites as long as they disclose the practice. The FCC said the new rules will take effect on June 11.

A group of states and others have sued to try to block the new rules from taking effect. The revised rules were a win for internet service providers like AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp but are opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc.

"The agency failed to listen to the American public and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land," FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said Thursday. "The FCC is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of the law, and the wrong side of the American people."

The U.S. Senate is set to vote as early as next week on whether to reject the FCC repeal of the net neutrality rules - but that effort faces an uphill battle.

Proponents currently have the backing of 47 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats, as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. With the prolonged absence of Republican Senator John McCain due to illness, proponents believe they will win on a 50-49 vote.

Senator Ed Markey said it was "likely" the vote will take place in the middle of next week. On Wednesday, senators officially filed a petition to force a net neutrality vote and 10 hours of floor debate under the Congressional Review Act.

Following the FCC announcement, Markey wrote on Twitter, "the Senate must act NOW and pass my resolution to save the internet as we know it."

The FCC voted 3-2 to reverse Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain online content.

Once they take effect, the new FCC rules would give internet service providers sweeping powers to change how consumers access the internet but include new transparency requirements that require them to disclose any changes to consumers.

If the Senate approves the measure, it would not likely pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. If the legislation were to pass the House, President Donald Trump would be expected to veto it.

In February, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general refiled legal challenges intended to block the Trump administration’s repeal of net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has often said he is confident the agency's order will be upheld.

Democrats have said they believe the issue would be key in November's midterm congressional elections, especially among younger internet-savvy voters.

Republicans have said the FCC repeal would eliminate heavy-handed government regulations, encourage investment and return the internet to pre-2015 rules. </s> NEW YORK (AP) — A federal agency voted to kick off the repeal of “net neutrality” rules designed to keep broadband providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from interfering with the internet.

It’s the latest change that the Federal Communications Commission has made to ease regulation of the phone, broadcast and cable industries.

Undoing the net neutrality rules – which, for instance, block providers from favoring their own apps and services over those of competitors like Netflix – may be the biggest battle yet triggered by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The tech industry, which sees net neutrality as necessary to innovation, is already pushing back by lobbying politicians, sending letters of protest to the agency and starting to rally supporters.

The FCC’s three commissioners voted 2-1, with the lone Democrat opposed, to start a process aimed at unwinding the net neutrality rules. It will be months before final rules are up for a vote.

Pai often argues that net neutrality rules are heavy handed and discourage broadband investment. His goal, he says, is to encourage companies to build out their wired and wireless broadband networks and draw more Americans online.

For support, Pai turns to a study by Hal Singer, a net-neutrality critic and economist who has worked as a telecom-industry consultant. Singer found that such infrastructure investment by network companies has declined 5.6 percent in 2016 from 2014. The telecom trade group USTelecom likewise says broadband investment is falling in the aftermath of the net neutrality rules.

Free Press, an advocacy group that supports net neutrality, has its own competing study showing broadband companies’ infrastructure spending rose, and says USTelecom is wrong to exclude some spending by AT&T and Sprint. Pai on Thursday defended the analysis he relied on, saying it’s the more accurate measure of investment in the U.S.

Industry analysts, however, say it’s so far hard to say, and note that other factors also affect investment.

In June 2015, the Obama-era FCC decided to regulate broadband as a “Title II” service – putting it, like phone service, under stricter government oversight. That gave the FCC authority to enforce net neutrality rules. Companies worried that regime would make it easier to regulate the prices they charged for broadband.

“From where we sit, the overall level of investment in the business is still pretty strong,” said Moody’s Mark Stodden, who analyzes telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T. “I hear companies complaining about net neutrality and Title II, but I think it’s a cop-out. I don’t think they’re actually spending less. They don’t like it so they complain about it.”

Some net-neutrality supporters have already started to push back against the repeal effort. The Firefox browser has a call to action that goads users to “tell the FCC that you heart the open web!” and links to a site collecting signatures for a letter to Pai.

John Oliver, the HBO comedy-news host whose 2014 segment helped popularize net neutrality as an issue (nearly 4 million comments filed back in 2015), got into the mix again with another segment on May 7, urging viewers to tell the FCC to keep the net neutrality rules.

But the vitriol often unleashed by the internet is already leaking into this inter-industry tech-policy battle. The chairman and his staff have complained about mean or racist comments directed at Pai, who is Indian-American. Oliver even begged supporters to be civil in an online video posted Sunday.

There are also reports that many of the 2 million comments already filed to the FCC are fake. And the FCC said its site was attacked the night of Oliver’s first segment, making it hard to leave a comment.

FCC officials have said, however, that it’s not a numbers game, and they pay more attention the know-how of the person or group making the comment rather than how many are filed on each side.

A preliminary version of Pai’s proposals, released last month, raised concerns that the FCC would only repeal, but not replace, net neutrality protections. Thursday’s proposal asked whether it’s still necessary to bar internet providers from blocking or slowing down certain websites or apps, or from charging services like Netflix extra for access to consumers. (Pai said Thursday these sections are still in the proposal.)

Big broadband companies say they can be trusted to do what’s right for their customers. Net-neutrality advocates cry foul; Free Press has a list of what it calls net-neutrality violations going back more than a decade.

“An open internet means that we do not block, throttle or otherwise impair your online activity,” said a Wednesday ad in the Washington Post placed by the cable lobby, NCTA. “We firmly stand by that commitment because it is good for our customers and good for our business.”

“Verizon supports net neutrality. Our customers demand it and our business depends on it,” wrote Craig Silliman, Verizon’s general counsel, in a post on LinkedIn. He also called for net-neutrality legislation from Congress.

In an April blog post, AT&T says it “has always supported our customers’ right to an open internet – and the right to access the content, applications and devices of their choosing.”

AT&T and industry trade groups sued the FCC over the 2015 rules; a federal appeals court upheld them in 2016 . Verizon sued over a previous attempt that was spiked in 2014 by a federal appeals court.

© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate is set to vote in the coming week on rejecting the Federal Communications Commission decision in December to repeal Obama-era rules guaranteeing an open internet.

Proponents currently have the backing of 47 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats as well as Republican Senator Susan Collins. With the prolonged absence of Senator John McCain due to illness, proponents believe they will win on a 50-49 vote.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday will officially file petition to force a net neutrality vote and 10 hours of floor debate under the Congressional Review Act. Advocates believe the Senate will vote before the end of next week.

The FCC in December voted 3-2 to reverse Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain online content. The new FCC rules, once effective, would give internet service providers sweeping powers to change how consumers access the internet but include new transparency requirements that require them to disclose any changes to consumers.

The FCC has not yet disclosed when the new rules will be effective, but officials have said the commission will likely give at least 30 days notice before the rules officially take effect. The FCC could soon formally publish the effective date in the coming days, officials say.

If the Senate approves the measure, the measure would not likely pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives or survive a veto by President Donald Trump.

In February, a coalition of 22 state attorneys general refiled legal challenges intended to block the Trump administration's repeal of net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has said often he is confident the order will be upheld.

The repeal of the net neutrality rules was a victory for internet service providers like AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc, conferring power over what content consumers can access.

On the other side, technology companies including Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc have thrown their weight behind the congressional bid to reverse the repeal.

Democrats have repeatedly said they believe the issue would be big in the mid-term election, especially among younger internet-savvy voters.

Republicans have said the FCC vote would eliminate heavy-handed government regulations, encourage investment and return the internet to pre-2015 rules.
The Federal Communications Commission votes to overturn a 2015 ruling requiring net neutrality.