FCC Seeks to Regulate Internet

The government, specifically the Defense Department, was instrumental in the founding of the Internet, and now the government wants to regulate cyberspace. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski (pictured) is forming a net neutrality plan that he hopes to implement as soon as next month, several sources with knowledge of the situation tell Politico.

They say it could resemble a deal big Internet players tried to complete with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., several weeks ago.

Net neutrality would require Internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. Big-time cyber players such as Google and Skype want net neutrality rules applied to both wire-line and wireless networks, but network providers including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast want flexibility to manage web traffic on their lines.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to implement net neutrality rules. Genachowski’s plans to do so were sidetracked by a federal court decision that the FCC doesn’t have legal authority to adopt the regulations.