In a closely watched vote, the FCC approved compromise net neutrality rules Tuesday that would forbid the nation’s largest cable and DSL internet service providers from blocking or slowing online services, while leaving wireless companies with much more latitude.

After five years of contentious debate that has polarized the tech policy world, FCC chief Julius Genachowski made good on President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to strengthen rules on the nation’s ISPs. The measure, which passed 3-2 along party lines, did not go as far as supporters would have liked, but the FCC faced steep resistance from D.C. Republicans and the powerful telecom lobbying machine.

The FCC’s order is a milestone in the multi-year battle over so-called “net neutrality,” which is the principle that broadband service providers shouldn’t be able to interfere or block web traffic, or favor their own services at the expense of smaller rivals. Without net neutrality, which ensures that everyone has open access to the internet, revolutionary web startups like Google, Facebook and Twitter may never gotten off the ground, proponents argue.

The three new rules, which will go into effect early next year, force ISPs to be transparent about how they handle network congestion, prohibit them from blocking traffic such as Skype on wired networks, and outlaw “unreasonable” discrimination on those networks, meaning they can’t put an online video service in the slow lane to benefit their own video services.

President Obama hailed the vote.

“Today’s decision will help preserve the free and open nature of the Internet while encouraging innovation, protecting consumer choice, and defending free speech,” Obama said in a statement. “As technology and the market continue to evolve at a rapid pace, my Administration will remain vigilant and see to it that innovation is allowed to flourish, that consumers are protected from abuse, and that the democratic spirit of the Internet remains intact.”

The measure pleased few, and raised howls of outrage from those who say the measure will stifle broadband investment and those who say the measure doesn’t do enough to keep online innovation thriving.

“Despite promising to fulfill President Obama’s campaign promise of enacting network neutrality rules to protect an open Internet, the FCC has instead prioritized the profits of corporations like AT&T over those of the general public, Internet entrepreneurs, and local businesses across the country,” said Sascha Meinrath, Director of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative.

Meinrath served on Obama’s idealistic technology, media, and telecom working group during the 2008 campaign. Genachowski was in charge of the group.

Although there is much sound and fury begin devoted to the new rules, in reality, they differ little from the principles put into place by former Republican FCC chairman Michael Powell in 2005.

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, offered cautious support for the new rules.

“While we look forward to reviewing the final order, the rules as described generally appear intended to strike a workable balance between the needs of the marketplace for certainty and everyone’s desire that Internet openness be preserved,” Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen said in a statement. “Most importantly, this approach removes the cloud of Title II regulation that would unquestionably have harmed innovation and investment in the Internet and broadband infrastructure.”

Comcast, AT&T and Verizon had vigorously opposed an earlier FCC plan, which would have reclassified broadband as a communications service, which would have bolstered the commission’s authority to enforce net neutrality.

The order does not formally extend the protections to wireless networks, nor does it prohibit so-called “paid-prioritization,” in which the broadband companies could create high-speed, high-priced fast lanes for premium customers. In fact, the order goes so far as to actually create a new category of internet service — so called “specialized services.”

Legal experts predict that the rules face almost certain challenge in federal court, and just minutes after the meeting ended, Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile provider in the country, expressed displeasure with the new rules.

The meeting exposed the bitter philosophical and ideological differences that have pitted supporters of net neutrality with opponents, including the big broadband companies and their allies, who say the rules are an unnecessary burden on a system that works just fine.

The formal order has not been released yet, because the FCC needs to incorporate responses to dissenting commissioners into the order. FCC officials said it could take a few days before the order is made public.

Authors: Sam Gustin

to know more click here