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Firefighters Join Net Neutrality Suit After Verizon Throttles Data During Historic Blaze

HeadlineAug 23, 2018

A California county is suing internet service provider Verizon in a lawsuit contending that the Trump administration’s decision to end net neutrality protections is endangering lives. The Santa Clara County Fire Department says Verizon throttled wireless data to one of its firefighting command-and-control vehicles to just one-half of 1 percent of its usual speed, inhibiting operations during this summer’s Mendocino Complex fire, the largest wildfire in California’s history. Under net neutrality rules set by the Obama administration but revoked under Trump’s FCC chair, Ajit Pai, Verizon’s move to throttle data would have been illegal.

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