CC Announces Support For Net Neutrality, Will Overhaul Broadband Regulation
CC Announces Support For Net Neutrality, Will Overhaul Broadband Regulation
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that, contrary to early reports by The Washington Post, the Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski has decided to regulate Internet lines to protect net neutrality. This is a big win for consumer groups that have argued that telecommunications companies like AT&T and Comcast have too much power in controlling access to the Internet and the ability to censor based on content.
The change in position comes after intense pressure from consumer groups and members of Congress like Henry Waxman and Jay Rockefeller, chairs of the commerce committees who pushed back against well-financed and well-coordinated lobbying efforts of the telecommunications industry.
Chairmans Waxman and Rockefeller wrote to Genachowski to emphasize that "[b]roadband is not just a technology; it is a platform for social, economic, and educational opportunity."
Late Wednesday Chairman Genachowski's staff began briefing the FCC's commissioners on just how the agency will propose to regulate Internet lines using rules that were written originally for traditional phone networks. According to FCC officials some of those rules won't apply to Internet networks, but others will be used to require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally and to not slow or block websites. The crux of the regulation will reclassify Internet lines under Title II of the Communications Act. The Obama administration had come under increasing scrutiny for its reluctance to change the classification, despite legal and political coverage to do so. That makes today's news all the sweeter for consumer advocates and proponents of an open Internet for all users.
The change in position comes after intense pressure from consumer groups and members of Congress like Henry Waxman and Jay Rockefeller, chairs of the commerce committees who pushed back against well-financed and well-coordinated lobbying efforts of the telecommunications industry.
Chairmans Waxman and Rockefeller wrote to Genachowski to emphasize that "[b]roadband is not just a technology; it is a platform for social, economic, and educational opportunity."
Late Wednesday Chairman Genachowski's staff began briefing the FCC's commissioners on just how the agency will propose to regulate Internet lines using rules that were written originally for traditional phone networks. According to FCC officials some of those rules won't apply to Internet networks, but others will be used to require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally and to not slow or block websites. The crux of the regulation will reclassify Internet lines under Title II of the Communications Act. The Obama administration had come under increasing scrutiny for its reluctance to change the classification, despite legal and political coverage to do so. That makes today's news all the sweeter for consumer advocates and proponents of an open Internet for all users.
Read more: speech, content, fcc, discrimination, civil rights, comcast,Telecommunications, Net Neutrality
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