On a vote of 3-2, the Federal Communications Commission advanced new Internet rules that will allow broadband providers to enter into agreements with content providers for preferential treatment, but it bans broadband companies from blocking or slowing down websites. The vote also allows input from all parties on issues such as whether broadband should be reclassified as a public utility, which would open it up to greater regulation.
Both sides in the net neutrality debate claim they are interested in preserving an open Internet.
Republicans vow to fight reclassification, and even one Democratic FCC commissioner had some misgivings, according to a report in The New York Times. “I support net neutrality,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, “but I believe the process that got us to this rule making today is flawed. I would have preferred a delay. I think we moved too fast, to be fair.”
“This is an alarming day for anyone who treasures a free and open Internet,” said Michael Copps, special advisor to Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative, in a Wall Street Journal report. “Let’s be clear. Any proposal to allow fast lanes for the few is emphatically not net neutrality.”
The public has until July 15 to weigh in.
