Net Neutrality Decision Expected From FCC in February

The Federal Communications Commission will take up a controversial proposal for rules on Internet lines in February, an agency spokeswoman said Friday.

Chairman Tom Wheeler is expected to unveil his latest net neutrality proposal to other FCC commissioners early next month with the goal of having a vote at the agency’s February 26 meeting. Wheeler’s first proposal — which would have allowed Internet providers to offer priority lane service — didn’t go over very well.

This time, he is expected to propose net neutrality rules which would rely on a part of the law — called Title II — which was written for old phone networks but would give the agency clearer authority to police Internet providers. One big reason why he’s expected to propose using Title II as the legal justification for the new rules is because President Obama suggested he do that.

Internet providers think this is a terrible idea and they’ve already threatened lawsuits to stop the FCC from essentially re-regulating Internet lines.

As we wrote earlier this week, much of the debate in recent days has mostly been about the details of how the agency should regulate Internet under Title II, with companies on both sides offering up ideas.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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