The draft rules kick off a policymaking process that involves commissioner votes and a public comment period before a final vote sometime this summer.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler sought to dispel what he called “misinformation” about the proposed rules, which he presented to the agency's other four commissioners Thursday. They're not expected to be available publicly for a couple weeks.
In a blog post, he insisted the new rules are meant to achieve the same goal as the 2010 open Internet rules that the court struck down in January.
“To be very direct, the proposal would establish that behavior harmful to consumers or competition by limiting the openness of the Internet will not be permitted,” he said in a blog post Thursday. “The allegation that it will result in anti-competitive price increases for consumers is also unfounded.”
Several consumer groups weren't convinced.
“A policy that encourages paid prioritization is not network neutrality, and the commission is using a bad legal path to a terrible policy end,” said Sarah J. Morris, senior policy counsel at New America, a non-partisan think tank.
Corynne McSherry, intellectual property director with the non-profit civil liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said she's concerned the FCC's rules for governing priority traffic could be too vague and leave too much to the FCC's discretion.
