Ars Technica reports that lawyers for AT&T, Verizon, and other internet providers plan to sue states that create their own net neutrality rules. "Broadband providers have worked hard over the past 20 years to deploy ever more sophisticated, faster and higher-capacity networks, and uphold net neutrality protections for all," USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter wrote. "To continue this important work, there is no question we will aggressively challenge state or municipal attempts to fracture the federal regulatory structure that made all this progress possible." He was writing on a blog for USTelecom, a lobby group with a board of directors including members from AT&T, Verizon, Frontier, CenturyLink, Windstream, and other telcos. When the Federal Communications Commission voted in December to rollback the net neutrality rules, and allow fast and slow lanes on the Internet, they specifically barred individual states from passing their own net neutrality rules. But the FCC also rolled back the classification of Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, which experts says does allow states to create their own rules, as the FCC ceded jurisdiction. USTelecom has a history of suing over net neutrality, taking the FCC to court when they passed the rules. Washington state and Oregon are passing their own net neutrality laws, saying the FCC lacks authority to preempt them, and there is net neutrality legislation in more than half of the states in the country. Governors of five states have issued executive orders saying the states can only do business with internet companies that follow the FCC's old rules. And many states are suing the FCC because they overturned the rules last year.