FCC changes its net neutrality stance… yet again

The FCC is changing direction more regularly than a yoyo right now: first it plans to create a fast-lane internet, then it doesn’t. Now, its senior lawyer has reaffirmed that it’s considering treating broadband providers like utilities companies. In a chat session on Twitter, Gigi Sohn—the FCC’s senior counsel for external affairs—explained that the regulator plans to seek comment how realistic the idea of treating broadband access as a utility actually is. Indeed, that will form part of its “open internet” proposals which are due to be published Thursday.

The top lawyer at the Federal Communications Commission confirmed on Tuesday that the regulator is considering treating cable companies like utilities as it fights off a wave of protest over the future of the internet. In a live chat on Twitter, Gigi Sohn, the FCC senior counsel for external affairs, said the regulator’s “open internet” proposals, to be published on Thursday, will seek comment on whether broadband internet access should be treated in the same way as electricity, telephone calls or water, where consumers have equal access to the same service. Sohn’s comments give the clearest indication yet about how the FCC is proposing to rewrite the rules on broadband access in the US, following a January court defeat in a case involving Verizon that challenged its powers to regulate the web.