FCC Weighs Rules Allowing Companies To Pay For Faster Internet Speeds

FCC Weighs Rules Allowing Companies To Pay For Faster Internet Speeds

By Rebeka Silva r.silva@hngn.com | Apr 24, 2014 11:40 PM EDT

The Federal Communications Commission is weighing rules that would ban Internet providers from blocking access to websites or applications, but would allow content companies to pay for faster Internet speeds delivering their traffic as long as such deals are deemed 'commercially reasonable,' according to Reuters.

Consumer advocates attacked the proposal from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler saying it would let certain content providers pay for access to fast lanes and discourage consumers from going to competitors' sites where videos or other content may load more slowly by comparison, Reuters reported.

'This move is likely to favor the companies with the deepest pockets and hurt the scrappy start-ups,' Delara Derakhshani, policy counsel for Consumers Union, said in a statement, according to Reuters.

The FCC has struggled for years to set rules that would prohibit Internet providers from restricting how consumers surf the Web but would also withstand legal challenges from broadband providers who have said they, as owners of the networks, should be able to manage them or charge for their use without what they see as regulatory overreach, Reuters reported.

Virtually all large Internet providers, such as Verizon, AT&T Inc and Time Warner Cable Inc, pledged after January's ruling to continue abiding by the principles of open Internet and have not weighed in since then, according to Reuters.

The fees that content providers pay for faster access to their sites or applications recently grabbed the spotlight after video streaming service Netflix Inc struck a deal known as an interconnection agreement with cable provider Comcast Corp in February, Reuters reported.

In January, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for the second time struck down the FCC's previous anti-discrimination and anti-blocking rules after a challenge from Verizon Communications Inc. but the judges did affirm the agency's authority to regulate broadband, giving the FCC new legal opportunity to rewrite the rules, according to Reuters.

The five-member FCC will negotiate the rules before they vote on May 15 to formally propose them and seek public comment before determining how to define 'commercially unreasonable' behavior or a violation of 'net neutrality,' Reuters reported.

One of the ideas the FCC is considering would be to have a commission ombudsperson to monitor the industry with consumers and content providers in mind, one FCC official said, according to Reuters.

Featured Video : Vice President Biden Remarks on Ukraine