Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he agrees with President Barack Obama in opposing creation of so-called fast lanes for Web traffic as the agency rewrites open-Internet rules.
"The president and I are in agreement and have always been," Wheeler said at a news conference Friday in Washington.
Wheeler sparked a furor that helped generate 3.7 million comments filed at the FCC by proposing rules earlier this year that might let Internet service providers such as Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. charge for quick transport of content over their lines.
Advocacy groups and Internet companies said the proposal threatened to undermine the ideal of treating Web traffic equally, known as net neutrality.
Wheeler's stance is "great to hear, but the proof is in the pudding," said Marvin Ammori, a Washington-based lawyer who has advised companies on Internet issues. "There's a huge gap between the rule he proposed -- which would authorize fast lanes -- and the outcomes the president has called for."
Obama said last week that he supports net neutrality and opposes letting companies pay for better service. Obama said his appointee Wheeler, who heads an independent agency, knows his position.
"I can't just call him up and tell him exactly what to do," Obama said.
"We expect whatever final rules to emerge to make sure that we're not creating two or three or four tiers of Internet," Obama said at an Oct. 9 gathering in Los Angeles.
Wheeler said Friday that he hasn't spoken with Obama on the issue and has kept the White House informed of the debate at the FCC. Wheeler repeated statements he has made at commission meetings and before Congress, saying that if paid fast lanes are judged to be anti-competitive, "it is dead on arrival."
"My position is unchanged," Wheeler said. "The president and I agree and have always agreed on the importance of an open Internet to create, as he says, the next Google, the next Facebook."
The debate over Internet traffic regulation was sparked when an appeals court in January voided the FCC's previous rules, saying they exceeded limits on the agency's authority.
In response, the agency is considering whether to rely on a part of the law that would let it impose strict rules with the possibility of price regulation, or use lighter controls to ensure Web traffic is treated equally.
Industry groups have opposed the strict rules as needlessly intrusive. Imposing them would be "disastrous," the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, a trade group with members including the largest U.S. cable company, Comcast, told the FCC. The court left open lighter regulation as an option, the trade group said.
Business on 10/18/2014