Chairman Pai Statement on Court Ruling on State Regulation of Information Services

[The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reaffirmed in Charter Advanced Services (MN), LLC v. Lange (in the context of Minnesota’s attempt to regulate interconnected VoIP service) that state efforts to regulate information services are preempted by federal law.]

A patchwork quilt of 50 state laws harms investment and innovation in advanced communications services. That’s why federal law for decades has recognized that states may not regulate information services. The Eighth Circuit’s decision is important for reaffirming that well-established principle: ‘[A]ny state regulation of an information service conflicts with the federal policy of nonregulation’ and is therefore preempted. That is wholly consistent with the approach the FCC has taken under Democratic and Republican Administrations over the last two decades, including in last year’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order.