Net Neutrality Wins

In a startling win for Internet neutrality advocates, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 – split with Republicans dissenting— Thursday to reclassify all Internet Service Providers – mobile and fixed— to be regulated as public utilities under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, and to ban blocking or throttling content via so-called fast lanes.
“This proposal has been described by one opponent as ‘a secret plan to regulate the Internet.’ Nonsense. This is no more a plan to regulate the Internet than the First Amendment is a plan to regulate free speech,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at a press conference following the vote. “They both stand for the same concepts: openness, expression, and an absence of gate keepers telling people what they can do, where they can go, and what they can think.”
Over four million Americans contacted the FCC in anticipation of the vote, urging the commission to stand against lobbyists and corporate pressure. Those same corporate interests have voiced disapproval of the vote, and are threatening to take the matter to Congress now.
“These ‘Title II’ rules go far beyond protecting the Open Internet, launching a costly and destructive era of government micromanagement that will discourage private investment in new networks and slow down the breakneck innovation that is the soul of the Internet today,” said Broadband for America co-chairs Harold Ford, Jr. and John Sununu in an NPR interview.
In reality, the vote merely protects the current status quo: equal access for all, and is being lauded by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“This is a victory for free speech, plain and simple,” said ACLU counsel Gabe Rottman to NPR. “Americans use the Internet not just to work and play, but to discuss politics and learn about the world around them. The FCC has a critical role to play in protecting citizens’ ability to see what they want and say what they want online, without interference.”

Sources:

npr.org
arstechnica.com