Wednesday, May 5, 2010

FCC Turns Up the Heat in Battle for Net Neutrality (Source: Mashable)

The Federal Communications Commission has decided to change Internet regulations in a way that will favor users over Internet service provider (ISP) companies and help bolster the net neutrality movement.

The FCC has been trying to regulate and enfore net neutrality the concept that all Internet traffic, including music downloading and other file sharing, is equal for some time. Results have been mixed. Just last month, a federal court ruled that the FCC didn't have the right to enforce certain regulations when Comcast was monitoring and blocking user traffic because of file downloading.

But today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski made Internet lines subject to the same rules as telephone networks, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. These rules, which come from Title 2 of the Communications Act, state that service providers should not block or restrict speed or bandwidth for websites or applications because of their content or the nature of the traffic. According to this act, carriers are required to provide service when requested, to provide service at a reasonable rate, and to provide service without "unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities or services."

The FCC has also recently proposed a plan to bring more broadband service with faster download speeds to more homes across America. We applaud the Commission's stand for Internet access and the freedom of users to browse and download as they please. We do wonder, however, just how far the FCC will get in this newest attempt to regulate net neutrality for ISPs before the big telecom companies start fighting back.

What do you think: Will, or should, the FCC be able to mandate net neutrality any time soon?
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Tags: fcc, net neutrality


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