FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday his agency has found a compromise in how it regulates high-speed Internet access: It will apply only narrow regulations to broadband companies. He said
this delicate dance will ensure the agency has adequate authority to govern broadband providers without being too "heavy-handed."
Genachowski's idea is to redefine it as a
telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally. Similar rules apply to other common carrier networks that serve the public, including roads and
highways, electrical grids and telephone lines. But Genachowski said he will refrain from imposing more burdensome mandates, but strike a balance that satifies Internet service providers, which oppose
any new broadband regulations, and public interest groups that are demanding greater consumer protections.
Separately, Genachowski also wants to adopt so-called "network neutrality" rules
prohibiting phone and cable companies from prioritizing or discriminating against Internet traffic.
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