FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - The Federal Communications Commission approved new rules Thursday governing the delivery of Internet service, and that all Internet traffic will be treated equally.
The 3-2 vote for Net Neutrality rules means all Internet content should be treated equally, and that Internet service providers cannot slow down, or create paid fast lanes on the Internet, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, according to AP.
By approving the rules, the Internet is now in the same regulatory camp as the telephone and bans business practices that are "unjust or unreasonable." AP stated that the decision represents the biggest regulatory shakeup to the industry in almost two decades.
The decision was applauded by President Barack Obama, who credited the decision to more than 4 million people who wrote the FCC on the issue.
"Today's FCC decision will protect innovation and create a level playing field for the next generation of entrepreneurs," Obama wrote in a statement.
Those in opposition to the plan, which including many congressional Republicans, said the FCC plan constitutes dangerous government overreach that would eventually drive up consumer costs and discourage industry investment.
Verizon responded to the decision with a statement from Michael E. Glover, Verizon senior vice president, public policy and government affairs, in a press release which used typewriter font:
"The FCC today chose to change the way the commercial Internet has operated since its creation. Changing a platform that has been so successful should be done, if at all, only after careful policy analysis, full transparency, and by the legislature, which is constitutionally charged with determining policy. As a result, it is likely that history will judge today's actions as misguided."
Michael Powell, a former Republican FCC chairman who now runs the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, warned that consumers would almost immediately "bear the burden of new taxes and increased costs, and they will likely wait longer for faster and more innovative networks since investment will slow in the face of bureaucratic oversight."
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said he would pursue industry-friendly legislation, although it was unlikely that Obama would sign such a bill. The FCC's five commissioners are expected to testify before a Senate panel March 18.
"One way or another, I am committed to moving a legislative solution, preferably bipartisan, to stop monopoly-era phone regulations that harm Internet consumers and innovation," Thune said in a statement this week.
It's not true that consumers would see new taxes right away. The Internet Tax Freedom Act bans taxes on Internet access, although that bill expires in October. While Congress is expected to renew that legislation, it's conceivable that states could eventually push Congress for the ability to tax Internet service now that it has been deemed a vital public utility.
For years, providers mostly agreed not to pick winners and losers among Web traffic because they didn't want to encourage regulators to step in and because they said consumers demanded it. But that started to change around 2005, when YouTube came online and Netflix became increasingly popular. On-demand video became known as data hogs, and evidence began to surface that some providers were manipulating traffic without telling consumers.
By 2010, the FCC enacted open Internet rules, but the agency's legal approach was eventually struck down. FCC officials are hoping to erase the legal ambiguity by no longer classifying the Internet as an "information service" but a "telecommunications service" subject to Title II of the 1934 Communications Act.
That would dramatically expand regulators' power over the industry by requiring providers to act in the public's interest and enabling the FCC to fine companies found to be employing "unreasonable" business practices.
The FCC says it won't apply some sections of Title II, including price controls. That means rates charged to customers for Internet access won't be subject to preapproval. But the law allows the government to investigate if consumers complain that costs are unfair.
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