• Bloomberg, Sunday, June 20, 2010 10:21 PM

A divided Federal Communications Commission advanced a plan backed by Google Inc., EBay Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to regulate Internet service providers, reports Bloomberg. The FCC, by a 3-2 vote, opened a process to seek comments on its legal authority to regulate how companies including AT&T, Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. deliver high-speed Internet service, or broadband. All three Democrats endorsed the action and both Republicans dissented.

The vote is a step in FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's drive to reclaim authority undermined when a court ruled that the agency lacked jurisdiction to censure Comcast's Web practices. The approach is "a middle ground" intended "to restore the status quo light-touch framework" that existed before the April court decision, Genachowski said. The agency needs legal backing to write net-neutrality rules.

Not every media company was happy with the vote. Major carriers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon blasted the FCC and its push to have more authority to regulate broadband Internet and classify it as telecommunications service, notes Channel Web. The companies worry that the agency will have too much control over carriers and services.

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