It’s been a couple of weeks since the FCC voted to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility and now the agency has released a 313-page document detailing what is and isn’t allowed. Net neutrality advocates and tech companies have been eagerly awaiting the release of these rules after spending months trying to convince the FCC to put them into place.
Two weeks after voting to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday released a 313-page document detailing what would be allowed. The release of the rules had been eagerly anticipated by advocates and lawmakers, as well as broadband and technology companies. The publication on Thursday resulted in few surprises; the F.C.C. is set to decide what is acceptable on a case-by-case basis. The regulations include a subjective catchall provision, requiring “just and reasonable” conduct. The rules reclassify high-speed Internet as a telecommunications service rather than an information service, subjecting providers to stricter regulation under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Their aim is to protect the open Internet, advancing principles of so-called net neutrality by prohibiting broadband providers from elevating one kind of content over another.