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Obama speaks out for net neutrality(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Washington, Nov 10 (EFE).- President Barack Obama on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify the Internet as a public utility in the interests of ensuring equal treatment for all kinds of Web traffic, known as net neutrality. The president took a public stand after nearly 4 million people filed comments with the FCC opposing Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal for a regulatory regime that would allow for the creation of Internet "fast lanes" for content providers willing to pay more, such as Netflix and YouTube. "For almost a century, our law has recognized that companies who connect you to the world have special obligations not to exploit the monopoly they enjoy over access in and out of your home or business," Obama said in a statement. "That is why a phone call from a customer of one phone company can reliably reach a customer of a different one, and why you will not be penalized solely for calling someone who is using another provider. It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information - whether a phone call, or a packet of data," he said. Advocates of an open Internet say the creation of higher-cost fast lines implies the relegation of other Web traffic to "slow lanes" and would likewise open the door to the blocking of content. The telecommunications industry reacted with horror to Obama's pronouncement. The president's plan "would impose inappropriate regulation on a dynamic industry and would threaten mobile providers' ability to invest and innovate," according to Meredith Attwell Baker, president of CTIA-The Wireless Association, a group that included AT&T and Verizon. The FCC is an independent regulatory agency and the president does not have the authority to order the commissioners to adopt any particular policy. Though the Internet originated in the United States, U.S. broadband speeds are ranked 14th internationally, according to a report issued last month. EFE llb/dr (c) 2014 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |