Overnight News Digest: Net Neutrality Edition

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• Obama pressures FCC for strong net neutrality rules

Reuters
 

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday pressured the federal communications regulator to toughen its planned Internet traffic rules, saying higher-fee "fast lanes" should be banned and Internet providers should be overseen more like public utilities are.

Obama's detailed position on the issue of "net neutrality," a platform in his presidential campaign in 2008, represented a rare step by the White House into the policy-setting of an independent agency.

It came after nearly 4 million comments flooded the Federal Communications Commission after Chairman Tom Wheeler formally proposed new Internet traffic rules in May.

Shares of major cable companies, which connect many Americans to the Internet, slid on the news. Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) was down 3.4 percent; its planned purchaser, Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), fell 3.o percent; and Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N) was 1.8 percent lower. Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) was down less than 0.1 percent.

• The White House Is Backing Strong Open Internet Rules

NPR
 

On the same morning net neutrality demonstrators showed up at FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's house to protest a plan that could let broadband providers charge for "fast lanes" to the Internet, the demonstrators found unexpected support from the White House.

President Obama released a statement and video Monday in which he makes the same demand as the demonstrators: Reclassify the Internet — and mobile broadband — as a public utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.

"I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online," Obama said in the statement.

• Cable companies 'stunned' by Obama's 'extreme' net neutrality proposals

The Guardian
 

America’s major telecoms and cable companies and business groups came out fighting on Monday after Barack Obama called for tough new regulations for broadband that would protect net neutrality, saying they were “stunned” by the president’s proposals.

The president called for new regulations to protect “net neutrality”– the principle that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. His move came as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalises a new set of proposals for regulation after the old rules were overturned by a series of court defeats at the hands of cable and telecom companies.

In response, Republican senator Ted Cruz went so far as to call Obama’s proposal for regulating the web “Obamacare for the internet”, saying on Twitter “the internet should not operate at the speed of government.”

The powerful National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), which represents cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner said it was “stunned” by the president’s proposals.

• Obama: Regulate broadband Internet like a utility so it 'works for everyone'

C/Net
 

President Obama urged the US government to adopt tighter regulations on broadband service in an effort to preserve "a free and open Internet."

In a statement released Monday, Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to enforce the principle of treating all Internet traffic the same way, known in shorthand as Net neutrality. That means treating broadband services like utilities, the president said, so that Internet service providers would be unable "to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas."

Obama wades into a contentious debate that has raged over how to treat Internet traffic, which has only heated up as the FCC works to prepare an official guideline. Those rules were expected to be made available later this year, though reports now claim they may be delayed until early 2015. The debate has centered on whether broadband should be placed under Title II regulation under the Telecommunications Act, which already tightly controls phone services.

• Obama backs Net neutrality in statement

Al Jazeera America
 

The FCC has received nearly 4 million comments after Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new rules that prohibited Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking any content, but allowed deals where content providers would pay the telecommunication companies to, as they put it, ensure smooth delivery of traffic.

Obama's proposal contradicts that plan, echoing calls from open Internet advocates and some of the tech companies that rely on equal access to bandwidth to do business. The statement also made clear that the president doesn't have the power to make the FCC's rules, but that his office strongly recommended the regulation.

• 9 questions about network neutrality you were too embarrassed to ask

Vox
 

President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he supports taking strong measures to protect network neutrality. The announcement was not terribly surprising — Obama has long been an avowed supporter of network neutrality. But this is the first time Obama has proposed a specific legal strategy for protecting network neutrality. And his comments will raise the profile of what was already the most contentious policy debate in the technology world.

If you're just tuning in now, it can seem a little overwhelming. What is network neutrality? What's "reclassification?" And why have people been arguing so angrily for so long? Here's an explanation that starts from the very beginning.