FCC To Make Final Net Neutrality Decision In February

[Playinghardball]

The U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) announced plans Friday to release and vote on a new proposal that could end a yearlong debate over how to best regulate the internet.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told agency commissioners that a new draft proposal for net neutrality rules aimed at regulating internet service providers (ISPs) would be ready after the start of the New Year, and voting would be scheduled for late February, the Washington Post reported.

It’s still unclear which way the FCC is leaning and whether it will consider rules that would allow broadband providers to speed up or slow customers’ internet access via side deals with Web services and websites such as Netflix. Since the agency’s initial proposal in May 2014, there has been heavy speculation over the FCC’s final decision on the net neutrality rules. The FCC encountered swift, enduring backlash from the public because the proposal allowed for internet fast and slow lanes that could have forced customers to pay more for access.

Recent rumors speculate the FCC is considering reclassifying the internet as a utility such as electricity to give the agency clear governing power but would still allow fast lanes.

President Obama recently pressured the FCC to uphold net neutrality and abolish fast lanes, emphasizing that everyone has the right to equal internet access. The White House released a plan in November calling for an outright ban on ISPs from blocking or throttling content. Paid prioritization, or fast and slow lane access, also would be forbidden so web services can be accessed without paying an extra fee.

More here: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/01/03/3607683/fcc-to-make-final-net-neutrality-decision-in-february/

[jwirr]

1. All right who do we call? Do our congress persons have any power in this?

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Bye-bye, net neutrality.

[yeoman6987]

3. Meanwhile the World gets better and better Internet

And our country worries about this nonsense.

[Recursion]

4. The devil is always in the details on this

This is about who can build and own connections to tier one networks. "Net Neutrality" can mean a lot of things, some good, and some bad.

I definitely do not like the direction of regulating it as a utility, because then the FCC can just say, for instance, "no porn online" like they do with cable.