The US federal government is looking to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks. The decision, announced by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, is expected to trigger a lobbying battle, setting out cable companies and big phone and their allies on Capitol Hill against consumer advocates and Silicon Valley giants.
Genachowski is expected to shortly outline his plan for regulating broadband lines. He desires to adopt ‘net neutrality’ rules that require Internet providers to treat all traffic equally, and not to block or slow access to websites.
The decision has been eagerly anticipated since a federal appeals court ruling last month cast doubt on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s authority over broadband lines. The court then ruled the FCC had overstepped when it cited Comcast in 2008 for slowing some customers' Internet traffic.
The FCC has mostly maintained a hands-off approach to Internet regulation for the past decade. Internet giants like Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc., and eBay Inc., which want to offer more web video and other high-bandwidth services, have called for stronger action by the FCC to ensure free access to websites.
Telecommunications and cable executives have cautioned that using land-line phone rules to govern management of Internet traffic would lead them to cut billions of capital expenditure for their networks, slash jobs and go to court to fight the rules. Consumer groups have, however, hailed the decision.
Genachowski's proposal will undergo a modified inquiry and rule-making process that will likely take months of public comment. However, the rule is likely to be passed as it has the support of the two other Democratic commissioners.
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