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QUOTE said:The stage has been set for what many predict will be an ugly fight over broadband plans for US citizens.
The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first formal steps towards tougher rules for broadband.
It asked for public comment on three different plans, igniting an expensive lobbying campaign by all sides.
The looming battle follows a court ruling questioning the FCC's right to regulate internet service providers after one throttled traffic to users.
That court ruling dealt a major blow to a central plank of the FCC's broadband plan called net neutrality which demands that all data traffic be treated equally.
The five commissioners on the FCC board were split 3-2 in putting out for public comment proposals on new regulations for the broadband industry.
'Third way'
One of the three plans the public is being asked to comment on, and which is favoured by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, is called the "third way".
This would involve reclassifying broadband so it went from being a lightly regulated service to one with more vigorously oversight.
The other two options include leaving the existing regulatory framework in place or imposing the full force of stricter regulations.
ISPs, such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, prefer the status quo and have come out against the "third way" proposal.
"This is impossible to justify on either a policy or legal basis and we remain confident that if the FCC persists in its course - and we truly hope it does not - the courts will surely overturn their action," said Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs.
Full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8745078.stm
Where are all those Americans who said nothing like this would happen to them, this whole 'I'm proud to be an American' rubbish.
This is just in addition to the 'kill switch' Obama will be getting for the entire US internet. So in the 'interest of national safety' Obama can kill your entire internet at any time... Now, as always, I am so glad I live outside of Amerikana.