FCC May Propose New Net Neutrality Rules

Clear your schedule on Monday to tune in to what could be an exciting announcement from the FCC: plans to move on Net Neutrality.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowksi will appear on a panel at the Brookings Institution on Monday to discuss the national broadband plan and Net Neutrality.

Genachowski will announce some key elements of the FCC’s plan to connect all Americans to broadband and is also expected to address Net Neutrality. The chairman is expected to publicize the FCC’s plans to open a formal rulemaking on the issue at its October meeting.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

In a speech Monday, Mr. Genachowski is expected to lay out his rationale for the new rules, which would set a new rule requiring all Internet providers, including wireless carriers, to use "reasonable" network-management practices in dealing with Internet traffic, according to people familiar with the proposal.

The panel falls on the same day the FCC will be filing a brief in the Comcast case and comes just days after Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) pledged to support the Internet Freedom Preservation Act during the FCC’s oversight hearing in Congress.

With Net Neutrality issues on the public agenda, timing is just right for the chairman to act on Net Neutrality, the principle that protects Internet users from discrimination online.

As to the possibility that the FCC will act on Net Neutrality, Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott told the Washington Post:

"If the commission moves forward on network neutrality, it will achieve the president's signature tech policy agenda item. And it's a firm move to protect the open Internet for consumers and producers of content in a competitive marketplace of speech and commerce."

The panel at the Brookings Institution also includes Scott; Skype CEO Josh Silverman; Brookings Vice President and Director of Governance Studies Darrell West; and David Young, Verizon Communications Vice President of Federal Regulatory Affairs. Cecilia Kang, a reporter for the Washington Post, will moderate the discussion.

The panel will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday; the Brookings Institution is live streaming the event, which will also be available at SavetheInternet.com. And you thought you were going to have a case of the Mondays.