Internet rules stir passionate debate
The Federal Communications Commission is being bombarded with passionate calls for a wholesale change to the way the Internet is regulated.
While reclassifying Internet providers to treat them like phone companies would be an uphill political battle, companies, lawmakers and members of the public are pressing the agency to do it anyway.
The FCC has received more than 1 million comments about its proposed rewrite of net neutrality rules. Amid profanity-filled diatribes and threats against FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, many of the comments ask the agency to change the way it regulates Internet providers.
Under the agency’s old net neutrality rules, Internet providers were regulated as “Title I” or “information” services.
Phone companies, in contrast, are classified as “Title II” or “telecommunications” services, meaning they are regulated more like utility companies.
While Wheeler initially focused on rewriting the net neutrality rules under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, he began focusing more seriously on reclassification after a backlash from Democrats on the Commission and on Capitol Hill.
The pressure from lawmakers and industry players — including Internet companies such as Netflix and Mozilla — has intensified since May, when the FCC voted to move ahead with Wheeler’s plan to rewrite the net neutrality rules, which
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/212748-fcc-bombarded-with-calls-for-tougher-internet-rules#ixzz385Z4xJEP