Federal net neutrality regulations set to end

(WTVM) - In a few hours, the Federal Communication Commission will no longer enforce net neutrality on the internet, a decision the agency reached just this past December.

Monday, Apr. 23 marks the end of the federal net neutrality protections.

The Federal Communications Commission's repeal in 2017 does away with regulations placed during President Obama's time in office, which put rules in place were designed to protect an open and fair internet.

The effort to repeal net neutrality was widely supported by the telecom industry but criticized by both the tech industry and customer advocacy groups.

As a concept, net neutrality was in place so telecom giants, like Comcast and AT&T, could not slow down Netflix's speed in order to make their own streaming services more enticing to customers.

However, the FCC's decision sparked a slew of legal challenges from several states as a coalition of 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block the agency's vote.

So far, officials from neither Alabama nor Georgia have cosigned onto this litigation.