FCC chairman backs regulating Internet as public utility

After months of debate, discussion and the culling of nearly 4 million public comments on the matter, the Federal Communications Commission appears poised to decide how it will regulate the Internet.

"These enforceable, bright-line rules will ban paid prioritization and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a column via tech website Wired. "I propose to fully apply - for the first time ever - those bright-line rules to mobile broadband.

"My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone's permission."

With Wheeler's stance on net neutrality, the FCC appears likely to back President Barack Obama's call for treating the Web as a public utility, like telecom companies, according to NPR.

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