Happy Nice Mall

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Telecommunications industry groups ended proposals Wednesday to block California’s net neutrality law that prevents broadband providers from throttling service.

In a federal court in Sacramento, the groups and California Attorney General Rob Bonta agreed to dismiss the case together.

The move followed a January decision by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to enforce a 2018 law that prohibits internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and apps that don’t pay for premium service.

“The case is finally over,” Bonta said in a statement. “With this victory, we have provided a free and open internet for California’s 40 million residents once and for all.”

Messages seeking comment from a lawyer representing the groups were not immediately returned.

The law was signed by former Democratic Governor Jerry Brown after regulators killed off federal net neutrality rules during the Trump administration designed to prevent AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and other major internet providers from using their sovereignty to favor certain services or apps over others.

In response, seven states and Puerto Rico have enacted their own net neutrality policies. The most sweeping effort has been in California, which began enforcing the law last year, with potentially significant consequences for the rest of the United States.

In addition to blocking internet providers from providing throttling services to customers for a faster route, or charging companies like Netflix, California law prohibited some forms of “zero ratings,” a term used by a cable or telephone company to exempt a service from data caps.

Proponents of net neutrality say such programs undermine competition by potentially distancing users from the sponsored app and their competitors.

Major telecom companies strongly opposed the measure in court. They argued that regulations could undermine broadband investments and lead to uncertainty about what acceptable business practices are.