FCC Chairman Supports Net Neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has come out in favor of net neutrality, suggesting he plans to use Title II of the Communications Act to regulate Internet Service Providers.

”We’re gonna have rules that say--we're going to propose rules that say, 'no blocking, no throttling, no paid prioritization,' and that there is a yardstick against which behavior should be measured, and that yardstick was 'just and reasonable,'" Wheeler said.

Ars Technica reports that Wheeler signaled his plans in a conversation with with Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro. Using Title II, the FCC would be able to regulate ISPs as common carriers. President Obama recently advocated using Title II to impose rules that would forbid ISPs from blocking and throttling traffic, or allowing them to charge for priority access. ISPs have argued that using Title II would open the door for rate regulation, akin to telephone networks.

Wheeler said the FCC had looked into a "commercially reasonable" legal test, but found that the test was skewed towards what's reasonable for ISPs themselves, not consumers.

"And that's the wrong question and the wrong answer because the issue here is how do we make sure that consumers and innovators have open access to networks. That led us to a more robust investigation of the well established concept of just and reasonable, which is a Title II concept. And as I said, Title II has always been something that was on the table. So last summer we began investigating various approaches using title II as a way to get to just and reasonable because it has the best protections."

Wheeler said he needs to make sure the solution needs to work for innovators, as well as ISPs who want to invest more. However, he said, the vocal response from ISPs after President Obama urged Title II was mostly just talk, as companies have still been investing at record pace. On top of that, smaller ISPs have been in favor of Title II, suggesting the move would spur competition in the marketplace.

The proposed rules will be taken to a vote in the Commission on February 26. Last year, several tech companies including Google, Microsoft, and Netflix wrote to the FCC in favor of net neutrality.