When it convenes tomorrow for its final meeting of the year, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve rules of the road governing Internet service providers. Senior FCC officials describe the version of the open Internet order that the commission will vote on tomorrow as a stronger version of Chairman Julius Genachowski’s initial proposal.
The officials stressed that the final rules will include safeguards against paid prioritization agreements, whereby content and application providers pay extra for speedy transmission. The rules will also include a stronger definition of broadband access Internet service in an effort to close what critics described as a loophole.
The concessions were made in consultation with Genachowski’s two fellow Democrats, who had advocated for stronger rules. Now, with their support secured, the FCC is all but assured of passing its first net neutrality rules when it meets tomorrow. Datamation takes a look.
The net neutrality rules the Federal Communications Commission appears poised to approve tomorrow morning will go farther than originally expected to prevent Internet service providers from playing favorites with the content traveling on their data networks, according to two senior FCC officials.
Speaking with reporters on the eve of the vote, the officials said that Chairman Julius Genachowski and his staff have been working with fellow Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn to strengthen the rules and secure their support. Copps and Clyburn had expressed concern that the final order would not go far enough, but both are now apparently planning to vote in the affirmative tomorrow, giving Genachowski the three-person majority needed to win approval of the order.
