"[Wheeler is] revising proposed rules for regulating broadband Internet, including offering assurances that the agency won't allow companies to segregate Web traffic into fast and slow lanes [...] [the new plan] is sticking to the same basic approach but will include language that would make clear that the FCC will scrutinize the deals to make sure that the broadband providers don't unfairly put non-paying companies' content at a disadvantage." (Source: WSJ).
If we read between the double-spaced lines here, the reassurance is basically that the FCC will oversee deals between ISPs and content providers; what this ultimately does is leave gaps for further corruption and obfuscation of paper trails between the FCC and ISPs -- with whom we've banked so much trust in the past. So now, we end up with the FCC potentially allowing most (but not all) deals between ISPs and content providers while gaining an added layer of flummoxed, amoebic bureaucracy enshrining money over innovation.
Just what the internet needs.
If you'd like to speak out against the FCC's express inability to manage and understand the internet, we'd strongly encourage you to contact local representatives and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF website (linked) supplies several resources that will aid you in efforts to get involved.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.
