FCC to Regulate Broadband Internet Providers

The Federal Communications Commission will reregulate broadband lines to help prevent service providers from dictating how their customers use the Internet.

The FCC will regulate Internet lines under rules that currently apply to landline telephone networks, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The rules will be used to enforce "network neutrality," regulations that require providers to treat web traffic equally and not slow or block websites.

The move is sure to be hailed by consumer advocates who have called on the government to order providers to give equal treatment to all traffic flowing over their networks.
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The reregulation is a workaround to the appeals court ruling last month that struck down certain net neutrality rules. That decision was a blow to the FCC and a big victory for Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, which had challenged the agency's right to impose certain regulations.

The case stemmed from incidents in 2007 when Comcast blocked some customers from sharing large files over the Internet, saying that such bandwidth hogs slowed down the network for other subscribers. Comcast sued when the FCC imposed rules to prevent providers from constraining their customers' actions online.