Pressure on US regulators to block Internet 'fast lanes'

Pressure is building on US regulators to stop powerful firmsfrom hogging Internet "fast lanes" that could be allowed under proposed rules thatwill be discussed next week.More than 100 technology firms including titans Microsoft, Google, Facebook, andTwitter came out Wednesday against Federal Communications Commission (FCC)suggested rules of the road that seemingly run counter to the cherished ideal of"net neutrality."Internet service providers with virtual strangleholds on some US cities would beable to charge tolls for data to get priority in "fast lanes" under regulationsrecommended by FCC chief Tom Wheeler last month.Such rules "would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminateboth technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tollson them," Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other Internet firms said in a letter to theFCC."This represents a grave threat to the Internet."- Call to stall vote -An FCC commissioner has called for a delay of the planned May 15 vote on theproposed rules in order to discuss making them stronger.The rules wouldn't prevent ISPs from allowing tech titans such as Netflix or Googleto pay for faster data speeds but would require that competing traffic move at"reasonable" speeds.The "open Internet notice of proposed rule making" sent from Wheeler to the fullcommission last month was pounced on by critics as a betrayal of the goal ofkeeping the Internet "neutral" by preventing some online traffic from gettingpriority over other content.Netflix came out against the notion of allowing toll-based fast lanes shortly afterthe proposal went public.- Gap in oversight -The FCC was adamant that it remains committed to net neutrality and is trying tocreate rules that can withstand legal scrutiny.Two prior attempts, the most recent in 2010, by the FCC to hold broadband serviceproviders to standards were stymied by US District Court decisions that such moveswere outside the agency's scope of authority.Wheeler seized on part of the most recent court decision that suggests the FCC haspower to take action if ISPs act in "commercially unreasonable" ways.The proposed rules "follow the roadmap established by the court as to how toenforce rules of the road that protect an open Internet," Wheeler said in a blog post."To be very direct, the proposal would establish that behavior harmful to consumersor competition by limiting the openness of the Internet will not be permitted," the FCC chairman maintained.The FCC contends there is a "gap" in oversight of ISPs because the court struckdown its efforts to ban blocking or slowing of online data.Wheeler wants new rules in place by the end of this year.The FCC maintained that the proposed rules will bar ISP behaviors "harmful toconsumers" and allow it to set high standards for what is "commerciallyreasonable."Net neutrality advocates argue that letting Internet firms with deep pockets pay forfaster data transmission will put innovative young startups at a disadvantage.