Netflix mum as others in media react to California’s net neutrality laws

California signed new net neutrality laws over the weekend, months after the FCC reversed federal net neutrality rules. The media industry, on both the content and distribution sides, reacted, while Netflix, once a strident defender of net neutrality, stayed quiet.California’s new rules, which were signed into law on Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown, prevent internet service providers from blocking or slowing content or applications, or from charging fees to internet companies for faster access to customers.The Justice Department wasted little time in filing a lawsuit against California, alleging that interstate communications should be regulated by the federal government and not on the state level.The two actions have drawn responses from several interested parties but not Netflix this time around. A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment on the new laws or the DOJ’s lawsuit.This stands somewhat in contrast to earlier this year, when Netflix CEO Reed Hastings took a rather relaxed stance in response to the FCC rolling back the net neutrality rules. At the time, Hastings said that undoing the official rules wouldn’t have much of an effect since net neutrality had already become a “consumer expectation.”