The Federal Communications Commission is looking through a “rainbow” of ideas for how to ban Internet service providers from treating websites unfairly, a commission staffer said.
The head of the agency’s Wireline Competition bureau, Julie Veach, wrote in a blog post on Monday that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was committed to taking a wide look at all of the options for new rules on net neutrality — the concept that providers like Comcast or Cox should not be able to block or slow traffic to specific websites — after the agency received millons of public comments.
{mosads}“At the week’s close, Chairman Wheeler emphasized that the commission is looking for a rainbow of policy and legal proposals, rather than being confined to what he called limited ‘monochromatic’ options,” Veach wrote.
“A cross-bureau group of staff are reviewing these options as well as others in the record.”
The 3.7 million comments the FCC received by the time the public window closed last Monday was well more than double the agency’s record, signaling a huge amount of interest in the issue.
Wheeler’s initial proposal came under intense fire from Web activists, who feared that it would allow Internet service providers to cut deals with companies like YouTube or Netflix to speed up their traffic, which could lead to “fast lanes” and “slow lanes” on the Internet.
Some on the left have told the agency to turn to the portion of the Communications Act that it uses to regulate traditional wired phone lines, a move that would require the agency to reclassify broadband Internet service. Major cable companies and Republicans have revolted, though, and warned that the move would lead to years of courtroom battles.
Since the public comment period closed last week, the FCC has held a number of roundtable discussions on the issue. Another session is scheduled for Oct. 7