FCC Approves Net Neutrality; CEA Assails Vote

Nearly a decade into the debate about net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission has voted to approve a plan to regulate the Internet as a public utility.

The commission's vote was along party lines, with Chairman Tom Wheeler and fellow Democrats Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voting for and Republicans Michael O'Rielly and Ajut Pai voting against.:

Today, the Commission—once and for all—enacts strong, sustainable rules, grounded in multiple sources

of legal authority, to ensure that Americans reap the economic, social, and civic benefits of an Open Internet today and into the future. These new rules are guided by three principles: America’s broadband networks must be fast, fair and open—principles shared by the overwhelming majority of the nearly 4 million commenters who participated in the FCC’s Open Internet proceeding.