FCC Chairman Will Reportedly Revise Broadband Proposal

An anonymous reader writes "FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he will revise proposed rules for regulating broadband Internet, and is offering assurances that the agency won't allow companies to segregate Web traffic into fast and slow lanes. From the article: 'The new language by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to be circulated as early as Monday is an attempt to address criticism of his proposal unveiled last month that would ban broadband providers from blocking or slowing down websites but allow them to strike deals in which content companies could pay them for faster delivery of Web content to customers.'"

Its disengenuous bullshit

[Giant Electronic Bra]

And we all know it. Nobody gets to be head of the FCC and is so stupid they cannot understand how ANY PAID PRIORITY invalidates the whole concept of network neutrality. We need to keep hammering on these fuckers until we have (at least) retail ISPs under Title II and that's ALL there is to it.

Re:More of the same likely;

[wooferhound]

The language is too carefully chosen. I expect the same old sheet. Wheeler seems too anxious to move fast."won't allow companies to segregate Web traffic into fast and slow lanes" is a matter of interpretation. If you insist the slow lane is really not a slow lane, it is a meaningless statement.

From what I'm reading, it won't be the Fast & Slow lanes anymore. It now becomes the Fast & Faster Lanes. He is just changing the wording.

Re:More of the same likely;

[Anonymous Coward]

If you read the article on the Wall Street Journal's site, it's blatantly obvious that this IS the same policy, just with a flimsy promise that "The FCC will scrutinize the deals to make sure that the broadband providers don't unfairly put nonpaying companies' content at a disadvantage".

The only good news is that Wheeler said they'd open comment on the idea of reclassifying ISPs as Title II Common Carriers. This is where people need to make their voices heard. I know for certain that the minute that comment opens up, I'm sending in another letter.

vending machine pricing

[Virtex]

I'm reminded of a story about a company that made soda vending machines. The company had a new vending machine they were marketing to amusement parks which would raise prices when the temperature got above, say, 80 degrees. A lot of amusement parks liked the idea and started buying the new machines, but the word got out to the public and there was a huge backlash of people complaining about deceptive pricing and basically cheating the customers. In order to save themselves, the vending machine company explained to the public that their machines were really lowering the price of their sodas when the temperature dropped below 80 degrees. Somehow that just sounded better to the general public. This thing with fast and slow lanes sounds a lot like the vending machine company. Allowing fast lanes and allowing slow lanes are the same thing, just worded differently.

Re:What about prioritizing by type of content?

[whistlingtony]

Instead of insulting people who ask a legitimate question, we can answer..... sheesh. This is already done. Look up QOS practices. No one has a problem with this. It is a neutral practice.