On Wednesday, Tom Wheeler of the Federal Communications Commission announced his plans to change Internet regulation. His plans call for the treatment of Internet as a utility, much like water and electricity.
Tom Wheeler, a chairman of the FCC, published an article on Wired that explained his decision to propose the new rules of Internet regulation to the FCC. He pushes for the idea of Net Neutrality, or open Internet, in which all services have equal access to Internet.
“After more than a decade of debate and a record-setting proceeding that attracted nearly 4 million public comments, the time to settle the Net Neutrality question has arrived. This week, I will circulate to the members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed new rules to preserve the internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression,” he began.
Wheeler continued to expand upon his own experience with Net Neutrality, or lack of, and mentioned his startup of the Internet company NABU, which ended in bankruptcy because of closed cable lines. The chairman explained that AOL thrived while his company did not because AOL was based off of open phone lines available to all, whereas NABU was based off of closed cable lines that limited its services.
Under the proposed rules, the FCC would use the Title II regulation to treat Internet like a utility; thereby giving the FCC power to regulate pricing that ISP offers consumers and content providers. Wheeler believes that the regulation would allow for more opportunity for services while also encouraging investment in broadband, or high speed Internet.
“Using this authority, I am submitting to my colleagues the strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the FCC. These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. I propose to fully apply—for the first time ever—those bright-line rules to mobile broadband. My proposal assures the rights of internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone’s permission,” wrote Wheeler.
Internet Service Providers were upset with the proposal. Many ISPs foresaw such proposals by Wheeler and threatened to sue if the FCC passed such regulations. They argue that tighter regulation on the Internet would only prohibit growth.
Proponents claim that the ISPs need regulation because of the lack of competition amongst ISPs and therefore unfair pricing in local areas. The FCC is poised to vote on Net Neutrality later this month.
