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        'Net Neutrality' Coming Closer to Reality for US Internet Sector

   by VOA News

   The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will vote Thursday on a
   proposal that would ensure the nation's Internet sector operates as a
   free and open marketplace.

   The commissioners are expected to approve a proposal offered by
   chairman Tom Wheeler that would ban so-called paid prioritization, in
   which big Internet service providers would charge content providers a
   higher fee to stream their material over cyberspace faster than smaller
   customers.

   Wheeler's proposal, which he announced earlier this month, would
   regulate the Internet under a section of the decades old Communications
   Act that regulates the telephone industry like a public utility.  In an
   opinion piece for Wired magazine, Wheeler said his proposal would
   "preserve the Internet as an open platform for innovation and free
   expression."

   President Barack Obama asked the agency back in November to approve the
   "strongest possible rules" to protect net neutrality and ensure the
   equal treatment of all Internet traffic by service providers.

   Internet providers oppose the plan, saying government regulation would
   discourage investment.

   Net neutrality had been in place before a federal court ruled against
   it. The FCC responded with a plan last year that would have allowed
   such major ISPs as AT&T and Comcast to make deals with companies like
   Google and Facebook to provide them with faster paths for their content
   to consumers.

   But the proposal was strongly opposed by consumer groups and some other
   Web companies.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/net-neutrality-coming-closer-to-reali
   ty-for-us-internet-sector/2659814.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/net-neutrality-coming-closer-to-reality-for-us-internet-sector/2659814.html