Net Neutrality Take 2

Here’s FCC chmn Tom Wheeler’ s message to critics of his net neutrality proposal: The world isn’t ending. There has been, according to Wheeler, a "great deal of misinformation" that characterized Wheeler’s proposal as an effort to gut the Open Internet principles by allowing paid priority access. However, the proposed rules won’t change the goals of transparency: no blocking of lawful content and no unreasonable discrimination among users established by the 2010 rule. It simply followed the roadmap established by the court "as to how to enforce rules of the road that protect an Open Internet and asks for further comments on the approach," Wheeler wrote in a blog post Thurs. The proposal will be considered during the agency’s Open Commission Meeting on May 15. Here’s what he proposed: All ISPs must transparently disclose to their subs and users all relevant information regarding the policies that govern their network; No legal content may be blocked, and ISPs may not act in a commercially unreasonable manner to harm the Internet, including favoring the traffic from an affiliated entity. The FCC will seek public input on the proposed rulemaking on things like whether paid priority access is commercially reasonable, an FCC official said during a press call Thurs. Peering agreements like the Comcast/Netflix deal aren’t covered by the proposed rules, he said. Net neutrality backers weren’t impressed. Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) worried that the proposed rules "will not do enough to curtail discrimination of Internet traffic, but rather leave the door open to discrimination under more ambiguous terms," she said in a statement. "For me to support ‘commercially reasonable’ agreements between financially liquid online content companies and broadband providers for faster Internet speeds, there must be zero uncertainty" for consumers, businesses and innovators, she said. The plan didn’t please Open Internet opponents either: Eshoo’s Republican counterparts on the House Commerce committee Fred Upton (MI) and Greg Walden (OR) said Wheeler’s approach to regulation will "cast a chill on technological breakthroughs and cause American consumers to lose out." NCTA simply said the cable industry supports an Open Internet and will continue to provide "unfettered access to legal content."