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Updated Feb. 4, 11:52 a.m. ET: Wheeler Outlines His Proposal In 

Today is the day net neutrality watchers had been waiting for, according to numerous reports. After months of debate, discussion and the culling of nearly 4 million public comments on the matter, the Federal Communications Commission appears poised to decide how it will regulate the Internet.


FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out his proposal in a 

. He proposes using the FCC's authority to regulate the Internet as a utility, writing:


 Wednesday afternoon.

The FCC had to essentially start over on its net neutrality rules after its old rules were 

 in January 2014. Net neutrality is the concept that your Internet provider should be a neutral gateway to everything on the Internet, not a gatekeeper deciding to load some sites slower than others or impose fees for faster service.
At issue now is how to ensure this concept. Wheeler originally floated a proposal last summer that received wide backlash from Silicon Valley companies, open-Internet supporters and even the White House. So the new proposal would "fundamentally change the way it oversees high-speed Internet service," 

. It would do so by proposing to regulate the Internet as a public utility, like telecom companies.
The move is supported by President Obama, who made waves last fall when he 

 of treating Internet service providers like telecommunications companies. It would subject the ISPs to closer oversight of how they manage traffic on their networks. For example, the FCC would ban broadband providers from slowing down your Netflix streams.
Some cable companies and their lobbying groups 

 they support an open Internet and believe any additional government regulation will stifle innovation and investment. (NPR's Joel Rose on Tuesday 

examined whether investment would indeed be stifled

.)
What would this proposal mean for you, in the short term? 

Science

Elise Hu

Author

Chairman Tom Wheeler laid out what he called "the strongest open Internet protections ever proposed."

FCC chairman backs regulating Internet as public utility

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