The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved its Net neutrality policy by a vote of three to two on Thursday. This unsurprising outcome follows years of contentious debate over the best way to ensure that Internet service providers (ISPs) treat all online data and services equally, without favoring one type of content over another.
Rhetoric on both sides had been remarkably similar in recent months as the vote approached but was punctuated by mutual mistrust. By the end of Thursday’s debate—which is by no means the end of the matter—the parties agreed on the Net neutrality approach, although through different means. Expect the FCC’s decision to regulate the Internet as a utility to be challenged in the courts, through additional Congressional hearings and, ultimately, through legislation that would mitigate the agency’s authority to regulate broadband providers.
Image: THE AYES HAVE IT: The FCC has voted to regulate the Internet as a utility, despite much opposition. This is hardly the end of the Net neutrality story, so stay tuned. Courtesy of Camilo Sanchez, via Wikimedia Commons.
