From FCC Head Wheeler, a Yellow Light For Internet Fast Lanes

An anonymous reader writes "FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has decided to back-pedal just a bit on his recent proposal to end the "Open Internet" regulation regime in favor of a system with more liberal rules that could include so-called internet fast lanes, by means of which major ISPs could favor or disfavor different kinds or providers of internet traffic. Says an article at USA Today, 'Wheeler's latest revision doesn't entirely ban Internet fast lanes, leaving room for some public-interest cases like a healthcare company sending electrocardiography results. But unlike his initial proposal last month, Wheeler is proposing to specifically ban certain types of fast-lanes, including prioritization given by ISPs to their subsidiaries that make and stream content, according to an FCC official who wasn't authorized talk about the revisions publicly before the vote. Wheeler is also open to applying some "common carrier" rules that regulate telephone companies, which would result in more stringent oversight of the ISPs in commercial transactions.'" Update: 05/13 16:37 GMT by T : Oops -- I missed this earlier, substantially similar story.

Comments

From Wikipedia:

[recoiledsnake]

From Wiki:

Thomas E. Wheeler is the current Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in November, 2013. Prior to working at the FCC, Wheeler worked as a venture capitalist and lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry, with positions including President of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA).

Re:From Wikipedia:

[Anonymous Coward]

A conflict of interest is "I used to work for a telephone company, now I head for the FCC, and will work for the industry AGAIN when I no longer run the FCC"

Re:Victory..?

[Mr D from 63]

Its a slippery step in the right direction, but not enough for me. The devil is always in the details.

Re:Victory..?

[DeadDecoy]

I have mixed feelings about that. While I do feel that having 'fast lanes' would be appropriate for certain civil services, those considerations would be used as a trojan horse for corporations to shove legal policy through the system. The need for sufficiently fast internet should actually strengthen the argument for net neutrality. The internet has become such a critical part of the societal infrastructure, that it should be maintained like one. If all traffic is equal, and we're worried about some critical health service needing bandwidth, then we should upgrade the hardware instead of creating an artificially scarce resource.

NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH.

[fightinfilipino]

Tom Wheeler needs to STEP DOWN.

the Obama Administration needs to be held to its promise of ACTUAL Net Neutrality.

this is not over yet, not by a long shot.

Watch your language

[n0ano]

including prioritization given by ISPs to their subsidiaries that make and stream content

Sigh. Comcast won't prioritize its subsidiary's traffic, it will de-prioritize its competitors traffic.

Please, just classify ISPs as a common carrier (like you should have done years ago) and be done with it.