Tech Roundup: FCC chair unveils net neutrality plan

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Genachowski unveils net-neutrality proposal

Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski indicated
Wednesday he will propose new regulations for Internet lines.

His

attempt to revive the long-delayed net-neutrality proceeding is a
delicate balancing act designed to garner some industry and public
interest support without completely satisfying anyone.

To gin up support, Genachowski has made concessions to AT&T,
Verizon and the cable industry that could forestall an all-out lobbying
blitz by the nation’s largest telecom providers. The companies issued
generally supportive statements about the proposal on Wednesday.

The chairman watered down his proposals compared to last spring when he
planned to accompany the new rules with a stricter legal framework for
phone and cable companies.

Genachowski will hold a vote on his plan at a Dec. 21 commission meeting
after tweaking the proposal in the next few weeks. He needs to woo two
of his fellow commissioners, the minimum needed to pass the rules.

Read more in The Hill.

Reactions:

Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) issued a positive statement on Wednesday about Genachowski’s proposal.

House Republicans might need to oppose the FCC’s net-neutrality proposal if they are to make good on the
“Pledge to America,” according to key Energy and Commerce member Rep.
Fred Upton (R-Mich.).

The White House weighs in to support Genachowski’s proposal.

The two Republican FCC Commissioners (Robert McDowell and Meredith Attwell Baker) made it clear they will be voting no.

Senate Commerce ranking member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) urged the FCC on Wednesday to drop its net-neutrality efforts.

TODAY: Democratic
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps will be speaking at the Columbia
Graduate School of Journalism in New York at 7 p.m. in an address billed as
“a strong challenge to the current state of media policy.”

Also on Thursday at 10:30 a.m., the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing
on whether now is the right time for Do Not Track consumer privacy
legislation. The hearing comes one day after the Federal Trade
Commission recommended the Web browser industry voluntarily adopt some sort of Do No Track mechanism to forestall the necessity of new regulations.

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