FCC Appears to Reverse Positions; Is Net Neutrality Assured?, AlterNet, May 5, 2010, by Daniela Perdomo, excerpt quoted verbatim:

I’ve been following the fight to persuade the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate internet service providers and thereby ensure net neutrality (the principle that all Internet content must be treated equally by internet service providers, where no content is given preferential treatment by ISPs) for a few weeks now and have always come to you, readers, with somewhat sad news.

First, I wrote about how net neutrality was hanging by a thread when a federal judge ruled that the FCC didn’t have the authority to demand that Comcast not throttle, or slow down, certain types of content. But I was hopeful that the FCC would reclassify internet services such that they can regulate the industry much the same way they do telephone service. Then earlier this week I wrote about how it seemed the FCC was going to shy away from that option and cave to the telecommunications lobby and leave the industry unregulated.

Chin up, digital rights activists! It appears the FCC is doing – gasp! – the right thing.

I know, I know, in this era of under-regulation (see: financial industry, oil industry, food industry, etc.) it appears the Obama administration has decided to regulate the ISPs who bring each and every one of us access to the Internet, which is quickly becoming society’s most important mode of communication.

The FCC needed only a simple majority to reclassify internet services and it appears the chairman, Julius Genachowski, has cast the decisive vote.

Of course the telecoms are already whining:

Telecom executives say privately that limits on their ability to change pricing would make it harder to convince shareholders that the returns from spending billions of dollars on improving a network are worth the cost.

Carriers fear further regulation could handcuff their ability to cope with the growing demand put on their networks by the explosion in Internet and wireless data traffic. In particular, they worry that the FCC will require them to share their networks with rivals at government-regulated rates.

See, FCC to Restore Authority Over Net Neutrality, Broadband Service: Netroots Backlash Cited, The Huffington Post, May 5, 2010, by Josh Silver, excerpt quoted verbatim:

In response to widespread netroots backlash, the chairman of the FCC has decided to choose a path toward a broadband policy framework that will protect Net Neutrality and promote universal access.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Chairman plans to restore the status quo as it existed prior to the court decision in order to fulfill the agency’s goals to bring broadband to all Americans and preserve a free and open Internet. The recent court decision determined that change(s) made by the Bush-era FCC had stripped the agency from authority to regulate Internet broadband providers like Comcast and ATT.

See Congress to FCC: Do Whatever It Takes to Protect the Internet, The Huffington Post, May 5, 2010, by Josh Silver.

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