FCC officially releases rules to protect net neutrality | Technology | The Guardian
Last month FCC voted to approve new powers to oversee broadband internet after Obama called for regulators to maintain a free and open internet
After a year of acrimonious wrangling, threats and an unprecedented online campaign, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday finally released its new rules on regulating the internet.
The 313-page document is now being scrutinised by an army of communications lawyers as the cable and telecoms industry considers whether or more likely when to sue the regulator in the hopes of over-turning the new rules.
Last month the FCC voted to approve new regulations that will strengthen its powers to oversee broadband internet in the US. The rules followed a call from president Barack Obama for the strongest possible regulations to protect net neutrality the principle that all services and information should have equal access to the internet.
The new rules ban internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or throttling any legitimate service online. The FCC also outlawed ISPs from creating fast lanes for preferred services a practice known as paid prioritization. The FCC will also have the power to step in if it feels new practices in the industry are not just and reasonable.
The outlines of the rules were already clear but both supporters and critics had called for an early release of the hefty report in order to scrutinise the details. Net neutrality activists cheered the FCCs decision last month, giving the regulators chairman Tom Wheeler a standing ovation for the decision.
Republican critics have already called for the rules to be overturned, charging that they give too much power to the FCC and will stifle innovation. They have also launched an inquiry into Obamas influence on the independent regulators decision.
Republican FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said he was sad to witness the FCCs unprecedented attempt to replace that freedom with government control. he said the regulator was turning its back on 20-years of light regulation without justification. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason alone: President Obama told us to do so, he said.
The FCC was forced to rewrite its rules after Verizon successfully challenged its authority to regulate broadband last year. The new rules classify high-speed Internet as a telecommunications service rather than an information one, allowing the FCC to oversee broadband under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, the most stringent regulatory regime in its purview.
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Last month FCC voted to approve new powers to oversee broadband internet after Obama called for regulators to maintain a free and open internet
After a year of acrimonious wrangling, threats and an unprecedented online campaign, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday finally released its new rules on regulating the internet.
The 313-page document is now being scrutinised by an army of communications lawyers as the cable and telecoms industry considers whether or more likely when to sue the regulator in the hopes of over-turning the new rules.
Last month the FCC voted to approve new regulations that will strengthen its powers to oversee broadband internet in the US. The rules followed a call from president Barack Obama for the strongest possible regulations to protect net neutrality the principle that all services and information should have equal access to the internet.
The new rules ban internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or throttling any legitimate service online. The FCC also outlawed ISPs from creating fast lanes for preferred services a practice known as paid prioritization. The FCC will also have the power to step in if it feels new practices in the industry are not just and reasonable.
The outlines of the rules were already clear but both supporters and critics had called for an early release of the hefty report in order to scrutinise the details. Net neutrality activists cheered the FCCs decision last month, giving the regulators chairman Tom Wheeler a standing ovation for the decision.
Republican critics have already called for the rules to be overturned, charging that they give too much power to the FCC and will stifle innovation. They have also launched an inquiry into Obamas influence on the independent regulators decision.
Republican FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said he was sad to witness the FCCs unprecedented attempt to replace that freedom with government control. he said the regulator was turning its back on 20-years of light regulation without justification. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason alone: President Obama told us to do so, he said.
The FCC was forced to rewrite its rules after Verizon successfully challenged its authority to regulate broadband last year. The new rules classify high-speed Internet as a telecommunications service rather than an information one, allowing the FCC to oversee broadband under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, the most stringent regulatory regime in its purview.