FCC Proposes Net Neutrality Rules

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski officially proposed a set of net neutrality rules, saying: "I am convinced that there are few goals more essential in the communications landscape than preserving and maintaining an open and robust Internet. I also know that achieving this goal will take an approach that is smart about technology, smart about markets, smart about law and policy, and smart about the lessons of history."

While some Internet service providers in the USA started filtering the traffic that went through their network by deliberately slowing certain content or applications down, Genachowski proposed "that the FCC adopt the existing principles as Commission rules, along with two additional principles that reflect the evolution of the Internet and that are essential to ensuring its continued openness."

Those two additional principles are:

"The fifth principle is one of non-discrimination -- stating that broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications."

"The sixth principle is a transparency principle -- stating that providers of broadband Internet access must be transparent about their network management practices."