Taking a Greater Hand in Internet Regulation

Taking a Greater Hand in Internet Regulation

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The Federal Communications Commission plan for so-called net neutrality has run into a fork in the old information superhighway. A federal appeals court decision issued last week put up a barrier to one regulatory avenue for the agency. The ruling came just a month after the FCC launched its National Broadband Plan, which aims to expand Internet access. According to the ruling - internet providers like Comcast can decide at what speeds to deliver specific content even if that means activities like file sharing proceed at a snail’s pace. The bigger blow, perhaps, was the court’s reasoning: that the FCC doesn’t have the power to tell providers what to do. But do providers need to be regulated? Jim Speta a law professor at Northwestern University who specializes in Internet policy says the Web needs more regulatory practices. 

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