Washington (AFP)

The battle over "net neutrality" continues in the United States with a ruling on Tuesday in favor of government regulators, who want to return to this principle of equal treatment and access to content online.

The majority of the judges of the appeal court in Canada supported the decision of the FCC, the US regulator of telecommunications, which abolished this principle in June 2018.

But they left the door open to the Federated States, considering that they were free to adopt their own law on this subject.

California, a Democratic stronghold openly opposed to the Trump administration and territory of technology giants, voted in October 2018 for the return of neutrality, a decision challenged by the US Department of Justice.

The arbitration of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday does not resolve the dispute. The battle over internet regulation should continue with further developments in the courts and Congress.

Proponents of "neutrality" have mobilized against the prospect of a "two-speed internet".

Big Internet companies like Amazon, Facebook or Google but also smaller ones, who fear not being able to follow financially, suspect telecom giants Verizon and AT & T want to charge more for a faster rate, to block some competing services, such as video-on-demand for Netflix, internet telephony or search engines.

For its part, the government believes that this principle could discourage investment in new services.

"The court's decision is a win for consumers, the deployment of fiber and the free and open internet," said Ajit Pai, president of the FCC.

"The battle continues," responded Jessica Rosenworcel, an FCC member who opposed the president on the issue, noting that the court of appeal's support for state regulation was a "huge" step forward.

In May 2018, while both houses of Congress were controlled by Republicans, a text approving the restoration of neutrality had been approved by the Senate (on Democrats' proposal) but rejected by the House of Representatives.

In March 2019, the elected Democrats of the House, which they had taken control, had unveiled another bill to this effect, a text that the Republicans had not even put to the vote in the Senate.

© 2019 AFP