[ED.: by "Net neutrality," the FTC here means that it will prohibit viewpoint discrimination by Internet service providers who might otherwise choke down transmission speeds of their political opponents' communications. The FTC is not here, at this time, using "Net neutrality" to mean that it might require equal programming time or equal column-inches for opposing political viewpoints.]


The FCC Says It Will Vote On Net Neutrality Next Month (Feb., 2015)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/01/02/get-ready-the-fcc-s


Federal regulators looking to place restrictions on Internet providers will introduce and vote on new proposed net neutrality rules in February, Federal Communications Commission officials said Friday.

President Obama's top telecom regulator, Tom Wheeler, told fellow FCC commissioners before the Christmas holiday that he intends to circulate a draft proposal internally next month with an eye toward approving the measure weeks later, said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the agency's deliberations are ongoing. The rules are meant to keep broadband providers such as Verizon and Comcast from speeding up or slowing down some Web sites compared to others.

FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart declined to comment on Wheeler's communications with his colleagues, but confirmed the February timetable, which ends weeks of speculation as to when the FCC would make its next move.

It's still unclear what rules Wheeler has in mind for Internet providers. Analysts and officials close to the agency say that momentum has been building recently for far more aggressive regulations than Wheeler had initially proposed. Advocates of strong net neutrality, including President Obama, have urged the FCC to begin regulating Internet service providers using the same law it uses to oversee telephone companies - Title II of the Communications Act. Industry advocates have resisted that call, saying the FCC should continue to lightly regulate Internet providers under Title I of the act.
_________________________

Here is background info since 2007 about "Net Neutrality."

h/t jp_48504 - 06-28-2007:
Quote Originally Posted by David Utter for ???
The Federal Trade Commission issued its 'Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy' report and suggested caution on enacting net neutrality regulations.

FTC Cool To Net Neutrality

The FTC's Internet Access Task Force thinks all is well in the world of broadband connectivity in the United States.

"This report recommends that policy makers proceed with caution in the evolving, dynamic industry of broadband Internet access, which generally is moving toward more - not less - competition," Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in a statement.

As to the issues of "data prioritization, exclusive deals, and vertical integration into online content and applications," Majoras said these could benefit consumers. "We do not know what the net effects of potential conduct by broadband providers will be on all consumers, including, among other things, the prices that consumers may pay for Internet access," she said.

A concurring statement by Commissioner Jon Leibowitz took issue with the idea that legislation to protect consumers may not be needed:

There is a real reason to fear that, without additional protections, some broadband companies may have strong financial incentives to restrict access to content and applications.

One way this might happen is by now well understood by almost everyone - a broadband provider with monopoly power in a local market might use that power to block or degrade some applications or content that compete with applications or content the broadband company itself provides.

Leibowitz also cited how a broadband market without net neutrality could become an economic two-sided market that benefits only the broadband providers:

Once a consumer chooses a broadband provider, then that provider has monopoly power over access to that consumer for any application or content provider that wants to reach that customer. If a large national broadband provider were to begin charging Internet application and content providers to reach its customers, it would have monopoly power over access to potentially millions of customers nationwide.

This problem, which the Report identifies as "terminating access monopoly" ...
06-28-2007: Cisco response

h/t CarolinaMtnWoman - 01-26-2009:
Move to End "Internet Neutrality"

Blow to Bloggers. "Ten Pin Strike against Political Freedom"

by Sherwood Ross
Global Research, January 26, 2009

If the cable and phone companies that transmit Internet data are allowed to charge higher rates to some producers for faster service the result will be "a ten pin strike against political freedom" ...
h/t AirborneSapper7
Quote Originally Posted by Warner Todd Huston
Net Neutrality Update

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

If you are as worried as I am about the left's effort to force ever larger amounts of big government onto our lives, then you should be looking into the issue of Net Neutrality. To that end a few times a week I'll be posting some links and info about Net Neutrality to help you all get your feet wet on this important issue.

Here are just a few of the latest articles on Net Neutrality for your information:

Draft of Waxman's net-neutrality legislation leaked amid talks
The Hill, by Sara Jerome
thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/121101-read-a-draft-of-waxmans-net-neutrality-bill

Here is a draft copy
thehill.com/images/stories/whitepapers/pdf/proposed_net_neutrality_legislative_framework-1.pdf
of the net-neutrality proposal under development by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (Calif.), according to an industry source. This version was under consideration as of the weekend. Two non-Hill sources said Monday afternoon they believe the bill will come on Monday or Tuesday.

Rough week marks end of FCC Chairman's Summer in ...
The Daily Caller, by Mike Riggs

Among the Washington power set's favorite past-times is betting on an agency head's exit date. After all, it's usually a question of when - not if - he or she is going to burn out, throw up his or her hands in frustration, and get hounded out of the gig. The betting tables are especially hot after a long week for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

An Open Letter to the Men and Women of the FCC
The Washington Examiner, by Seton Motley www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/Examiner-Opinion-Zone/An-Open-Letter-to-the-Men-and-Women-of-the-FCC-103865578.html

04-19-2013: FTC report: Broadband Policy & Consumer Welfare: The Case for an Antitrust Approach to Net Neutrality Issues

h/t JohnDoe2 - 11-01-2014:
F.C.C. Will Consider 'Hybrid' Approach to Net Neutrality

h/t NewMexican - 11-16-2014:
The Net Neutrality Tax Hike
and
Your Universal Service Fee at Work
That Universal Service Fee we pay as part of our phone bill each month has helped double the number of "free Obamaphones" in the hands of people in Ohio since last year to more than 1 million.

Quote Originally Posted by NewMexican
...this new tax is needed with all of the illegals that will be flooding our borders - they have to have an Obamaphone (smartphone) to make it easier to organize.
www.alipac.us/f9/net-neutrality-tax-hike-314547/