FCC to clear ‘Net Neutrality’ with vote, then ‘everyone’ can read it

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on a proposal today, Feb. 26, that effectively prevents Internet companies from prioritizing some Internet traffic over others.

Supporters, including many tech firms and the Obama administration, say the net neutrality rules will ensure equal access to the net for content providers. Republicans in Congress are no fans of FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler’s plan.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted a link to a YouTube video spoofing President Obama. In the clip the President, obscured by pixels, states that “this is the same government that brought you the online success of healthcare.gov and we know we can do the same thing for you onliiii…” The audio and picture of the president then fade out into interference.

photo Anonymous9000 via Flickr

Critics claim this is Obamacare all over again, “you gotta vote on it to see what’s it in,” nicknaming this “Obamanet” and noting that the 303 pages from the FCC could stand to regulate much more than publicized.

Oregon Republican Greg Walden called the Internet a catalyst for the modern information economy and culture. The FCC’s vote, he said “threatens to throw all of this out the window, and to generate significant uncertainty that will impact the industry, its investors and ultimately its consumers.”

Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn claimed regulating Internet providers would lead to new taxes, and said she was “one of those that believes the Internet is a bright spot in today’s economy — it is not broken, and it does not need the FCC’s help in order to be effective.”

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has oversight of the FCC, says the agency will be subjecting the Internet to the “heavy hand” of regulation.

“I hope that Feb. 26 doesn’t go down in history as the time when the Internet moved from something that was driven by free-market innovation to something that’s driven by bureaucratic decisionmaking,” Thune says.

The new rules are expected to pass in a 3-2 decision with the two Republican commissioners dissenting. Details of the new rules won’t be made public until after the vote.

Many critics are just concerned that more government involvement will lead to censorship and control of content.

photo/Piotr VaGla Waglowski, http://www.vagla.pl