WASHINGTON — Capping a yearlong debate over the principle that broadband providers should have to treat all Web traffic equally, a federal agency is expected to enact the nation’s first rules today regulating high-speed Internet providers and setting guidelines for the emerging market of video over the Web.
For consumers, the agreement is designed to ensure vigorous competition in the market to send higher-quality movies and TV over the Internet. But it opens the door to high-volume Internet users having to pay more, which could boost the price of some of that video.
The Federal Communications Commission is set to approve so-called network neutrality rules despite opposition from both ends of the political spectrum. The suspense surrounding the vote was removed Monday when the swing vote on the five-member commission, Commissioner Michael Copps, announced that he will vote for the compromise plan crafted by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
A staunch net neutrality backer, Copps said in a statement that he would have drafted stiffer rules if it were up to him. But the proposal before the commission “could represent an important milestone in the ongoing struggle to safeguard the awesome opportunity-creating power of the open Internet,” he said. “While I cannot vote wholeheartedly to approve the item, I will not block it by voting against it.”
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Tags: Bill of Rights, Censorship, Constitution, Federal Communications Commission, First Amendment, Media, News Item, Video
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