A US regulator Thursday approved a much-debated "open Internet" rule that bans broadband companies from charging to put online services in a so-called "fast lane." The Federal Communication Commission's 3-2 vote came amid intense political debate in Washington with backers of online services like Netflix, Twitter and Yelp supporting the effort and big Internet service providers like AT&T and Verizon in opposition.
FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the plan would foster a free and open Internet where broadband services cannot be "gatekeepers" for what is available online. "The Internet is the ultimate tool for free expression," Wheeler said ahead of the vote. "The Internet is too important to allow broadband providers to be making the rules."
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who voted in favour of the plan, said it would "give those with deep pockets as well as empty pockets the same opportunity to succeed." Also voting for the plan was Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who said, "We cannot have a two-tiered Internet that speeds the traffic of the privileged and leaves the rest of us lagging behind."
The plan unveiled earlier this month by Wheeler regulates broadband Internet service providers as "public utility" carriers, revamping the agency's rules struck down by a federal court last year. The vote comes after the FCC received an unprecedented four million comments, and after President Barack Obama urged the agency to adopt rules enshrining the concept of "net neutrality." The plan, which applies to mobile as well as wired broadband Internet, bans service providers from blocking lawful content or slowing one service such as streaming video operator Netflix, to support a rival like Hulu.
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