FCC Unveils Complete Set of Net Neutrality Rules
Posted 12/24/2010 at 12:09pm
| by Seamus Bellamy
Earlier this week, the folks at the Federal Communications Commission hunkered down to hash out what would and would not be a part of their freshly hatched plans for America's net neutrality laws. Words were spoken. Tempers flared. The Woz gave his two cents. In the end, the rules as we know them today were passed into being by a vote of three-to-two.
The shorthand of it all, is that the FCC has decided that moving forward Internet Service Providers are now forbidden from discriminating against any kind of lawful service or application that their customers desire access to, and must now be transparent about their business practices. A set of rules was also thrown into the mix to regulate how companies--such as OnLive or Netflix--that want to pay ISPs for prioritized delivery of their services have to behave. Wireless internet providers were given some attention as well, with the FCC declaring that they too must maintain the same sort of transparency and openness as their wired brethren. All in all, there's a lot of win here for consumers across the board.
If you're interested in reading the full text of the FCC's ruling, a PDF of the document can be downloaded here.
Follow this article's author, Seamus Bellamy on Twitter