Hold On, Mr. President! FCC Rebukes Obama Over Net Neutrality Plea
After United States President Barack Obama urged the Federal Communications Commission to preserve net neutrality this week, the chairman of the FCC politely but firmly rebuked the White House’s wishes.
Early Monday, Pres. Obama said in a video posted on the official White House website that Wheeler should “implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality” when the FCC eventually unveils guidelines that will govern the way in which web traffic is delivered to customers by Internet Service Providers, or ISPs. The FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, the president suggested, “while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services.”
“This is a basic acknowledgment of the services ISPs provide to American homes and businesses, and the straightforward obligations necessary to ensure the network works for everyone — not just one or two companies,” Obama said.
Shortly after the president weighed on, however, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler fired back with a response in which he said his agency will hear Obama’s plea, but with the same regard as the four million or so other comments received by the FCC in recent months.
“As an independent regulatory agency we will incorporate the president’s submission into the record of the Open Internet proceeding,” Wheeler wrote Monday. “We welcome comment on it and how it proposes to use Title II of the Communications Act.”
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http://rt.com/usa/204503-wheeler-responds-obama-neutrality/
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