The floor’s officially open on Net neutrality

[LuckyTheDog]

The possibility of "slow" and "fast" lanes on the Internet became more real Thursday when the Federal Communications Commission voted to accept Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal for a new Net neutrality framework, but the vote also kicked off a rulemaking process where the agency will seek public comments, expected to come in a flood.

The FCC said the fundamental question it asks is "What is the right public policy to ensure that the Internet remains open?"

The proposal will ask American consumers, small businesses and service providers “if paid prioritization should be banned outright.” Critics of paid prioritization say that Wheeler's draft proposal would have allowed Internet service providers (ISPs) to charge large companies like Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) to access an Internet “fast lane” at the expense of consumers and startup companies. Conservative members of the FCC argue that prioritization is essential for ISPs to administer good service.

"Prioritization is not a bad word," said Commissioner Michael O'Rielly, according to a report from The Verge. "It is a necessary component of reasonable network management." Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is writing legislation to strip the FCC of its ability to write new Net neutrality rules under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, according to a report from The Hill.

MORE HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/net-neutrality/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Offhand, I'd say it means political sites (and others that don't really make money)

are screwed.

I pay extra each month for 'business class teleworker package', because I run a database and webserver at home on a fixed IP. But now I'll get slower service on sites that don't cough up even more money to ISPs, despite the fact that I'm already paying for more up and down bandwidth.

So the only way for me to actually use the bandwidth I pay for will be to somehow simultaneously hit lots and lots of slow websites, rather than fewer sites that aren't being throttled back because they aren't paying extortion for 'fast lane' service.