FCC might reject Obama’s net neutrality proposal

Earlier this week President Obama announced his support for Net Neutrality, calling for the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a utility. Unfortunately, the FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, has other ideas and has indicated that he will be rejecting the proposal put forward by the president.

According to The Washington Post, Wheeler told a group of Internet companies, including Yahoo, Google and Etsy, that he was in favor of a more “nuanced” solution, which would combine elements of Obama's plan but also give in to the huge Internet providers.

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While this very well may be the FCC's plan, the commission did take issue with The Washington Post's article, stating that nothing has been decided on just yet. Gigi Sohn, a member of the FCC's special counsel for external affairs, did tweet out that all options currently remain on the table.

While a final decision has yet to be made, according to sources, Wheeler was “visibly frustrated” during the meeting discussing Obama's proposal. He is also quoted as repeatedly saying “I am  an independent agency”, meaning that he doesn't have to answer directly to the government.

There have been concerns surrounding Wheeler as the head of the FCC since he was appointed last year as he spent many years as a lobbyist for large telecom corporations, the same ones that want Net Neutrality to go away in order to make more money.

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KitGuru Says: While it was nice to see Obama take a stance on net neutrality, it doesn't look like the FCC is going to accept his proposal. That said, no final decisions have been made yet so we will all just have to keep waiting for more news.

Sources: The Washington Post, The Verge

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