US parliament approves net neutrality law

The US House of Representatives has passed the Save The Internet act with a majority of 232, a bill that would bring net neutrality back to the US. Despite Parliament’s approval, there is little chance that the law will be passed.

There were 190 deputies against, reports the parliament site. The law was passed by a majority of votes. To take effect, the Save The Internet act must now pass the Senate, after which President Donald Trump has yet to sign it.

It seems unlikely that it will happen, because the law requires a ‘super majority’ of 60 out of 100 votes in the Senate. Of the 232 MPs, only one was from the Republican party, which controls about half of the Senate. As a result, the law does not seem to reach the majority.

Even if the Senate passes the bill, there’s still a chance President Trump will veto it. The disappearance of net neutrality was a plan of the FCC chairman who appointed Trump and in a statement, the White House said that advisers would tell Trump not to sign the bill.

The US was granted net neutrality in 2015, when the FCC, under the then Democratic chairman, instituted rules that allowed regulating providers. The amendment in December 2017 removed Internet service providers from the Title II classification of the US Telecommunications Act, removing certain guarantees around service, network access and competition. This allowed carriers to throttle certain traffic or prioritize paying parties.