STATE HOUSE – Sen. Louis P. DiPalma and Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy have introduced legislation (2018-S 2008 / 2018-H 7076) that would prohibit the state and its municipalities from entering into contracts with any internet service provider that engages in business practices that were prohibited by recently repealed net neutrality rules.

“It was quite unfortunate that the FCC decided to repeal the net neutrality rules. These rules protected the consumer and web site owners from being discriminated against by the large internet service providers in favor of large corporations who could afford to pay for a different level of internet service, effectively choking small business owners and consumers with added costs. Although the Rhode Island General Assembly does not have the power to mandate how internet providers conduct their business, we can say that any provider who engages in these unscrupulous business practices will not be considered for any state or municipal contract in Rhode Island,” said Senator DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton).

The Federal Communications Commission recently repealed net neutrality rules that were established in 2015. The rules prohibited internet service providers from blocking or slowing down certain web content. The rules also prohibited providers from slowing down certain web sites if they did not pay for faster internet speeds.