Paid prioritization a concern in net neutrality rules: FCC
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 28 December 2010, 14:47 IST
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Bangalore: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that many kinds of paid prioritization agreements likely would violate the new regulations for net neutrality. Explaining on its recent voting on net neutrality, FCC indicated that deals for fast-lane treatment by providers could raise significant cause for concern, reports Wendy Davis from mediapost.com. The new rules prohibit broadband providers from engaging in unreasonable discrimination. Although the rules do not impose a complete ban on paid prioritization, Chairman Julius Genachowski said that many such arrangements could be considered unreasonable. Releasing the entire 194-page order on Friday, the FCC had listed many reason why paid prioritization would be unfavorable. It detailed that these deals indicate a departure from longstanding norms which could cause great harm to innovation and investment in and on the Internet. The commission reiterated that broadband providers may implement pay-per-byte pricing and it would force lighter end users of the network to subsidize heavier end users. The five-member board of the FCC had voted 3-2 in favor of net neutrality on Wednesday and has released the first publication of net neutrality' rules for the world on Friday.

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