text: On the eve of the FCC's expected net neutrality vote, former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell explains how far the agency is willing to go to regulate broadband providers. Photo: Getty 
   
   WASHINGTON—Soon after President Barack Obama announced his support for strong net neutrality rules late last year, Google Inc.’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told a top White House official the president was making a mistake. 
   
   The criticism was unexpected—the company for years had been the driving force behind the tech industry’s push for strong rules to prevent broadband Internet providers from blocking, slowing down or speeding up certain types of Internet traffic. 
   
   ... ||||| Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler speaks during a new conference in Washington, on Oct. 8, 2014. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana, AP) 
   
   After nearly a year-long process, the Federal Communications Commission casts its all-important vote Thursday on the divisive issue of net neutrality. 
   
   The five-member board is expected to approve FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's new rules that aim to preserve an open Internet and prevent Internet service providers from discriminating against content makers. But regardless what happens Thursday, the agency's action won't be the last word. 
   
   "It is a defining moment, but it will be redefined by the courts, Congress and other entities including the marketplace going forward," said Gary Arlen, a Bethesda, Md., research analyst. "But whatever they decide is going to be a benchmark." 
   
   Net neutrality has become a politicized and polarizing issue in the roughly 10 months since the commission began crafting new rules. The agency's previous regulations were tossed out by a federal court in January 2014. 
   
   More than 4 million comments on the subject were filed with the FCC — the largest number ever for a rule proposal — from Internet service providers such as AT&T and Verizon to organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. 
   
   In general, Republicans share the ISPs' concerns that Wheeler's plan to regulate them as a utility — like traditional telephone service — under Title II of The Communications Act is overkill. The rules "may not ultimately provide net neutrality protections for American consumers ... (and) may raise rates for the American Internet users and could stymie Internet adoption, innovation and investment," Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said Wednesday. 
   
   Walden, who chaired a hearing about the future of the Net in the House Commerce Communications and Technology subcommittee, has proposed open Internet legislation that would override the FCC's rules. Rather than rely on Title II, the plan would make it illegal for ISPs to block or deliberately slow content and would ban companies from charging to provide faster service. 
   
   "Uncertainty is what we hope to stave off," he said. 
   
   Democrats at the hearing would have none of that. Wheeler's proposal "is the only path the FCC can take to protect the open Internet," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. 
   
   That's been the clarion call of strong net neutrality proponents, who want the FCC to have enough clout to prevent Net providers from curtailing access, services or content. In addition to Amazon and Netflix, supporters include civil rights groups and musicians including the members of R.E.M. and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. 
   
   "The Internet, which was once a luxury, is now a necessity, and it has given people the ability to be heard in our democracy and have more opportunity in our economy," said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color for Change. "It has been a tool for the little guy to get ahead." 
   
   The clamor crescendoed beyond Capitol Hill. On Twitter, Netflix fired a shot across the bow of Comcast and other ISPs with a tweet suggesting that net providers would slow traffic if they weren't regulated. 
   
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   win.http://t.co/OCoIdQiIN3 — Netflix US (@netflix) February 25, 2015 
   
   But interested parties are talking past each other, said Hunter Newby, CEO of net company Allied Fiber. The FCC chief's proposal could affect the entire Internet, when the agency should only be worried about consumers, he said. 
   
   "There is so much confusion and mass hysteria that it has led to Title II," Newby said. "It is polluting something that is working fine." 
   
   But some action is needed to prevent the kind of consolidation that has engulfed the cable industry, said Alper Turgut, CEO of Anvato, a streaming video tech company. "If we have net neutrality, everybody is on equal footing so they compete on the app experience, the user experience and the content rather than on how fast (content is delivered)," he said. 
   
   Former congressman Rick Boucher, who previously chaired the committee and is now honorary chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance, said that Wheeler's proposal, if approved by the FCC will be challenged in court. "We can predict the court decision would be years in the future," he said. 
   
   The draft legislation that Walden supports "moves in the right direction," he said and observed that Republicans and Democrats have moved closer on the issue. "It is a major development that everyone is talking about the best way to preserve net neutrality," Boucher said. 
   
   The public will remain engaged whatever the outcome, Robinson said. "We have fundamentally changed the conversation around the future of the Internet and that puts us in a much better position as we begin to … deal with the details to ensure that it's actually a strong, enforceable rule without loopholes." 
   
   Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1ERHZXo ||||| What Net Neutrality Rules Could Mean For Your Wireless Carrier 
   
   i itoggle caption Ted S. Warren/AP Ted S. Warren/AP 
   
   After a decade of debate, the federal government is poised to change how it regulates Internet access, to make it more like telephone service and other public utilities. 
   
   The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Thursday on broad new rules to enforce the principle of net neutrality — the idea that Internet providers should treat all traffic on their networks equally. 
   
   For the first time, the rules would apply fully to wireless broadband as well — and some big wireless companies are pushing back. 
   
   Net neutrality advocates argue that there's only one Internet, so the same set of rules should apply whether you're getting online at home, on your phone or any other mobile device you want. 
   
   FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler agrees. Earlier this month, he told NPR that "it is very important that these rules cover wireless, if for no other reason than 55 percent of Internet traffic today goes over wireless devices. And that's only going to go up." 
   
   The FCC is taking a very different approach from the last time it tried to enforce net neutrality, back in 2010. Those rules — later overturned in court — would have allowed wireless carriers to discriminate against websites or applications in order to prevent congestion on their networks. 
   
   Brent Skorup, a research fellow in technology policy at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, says that's "a recognition that wireless is different" from the wires that carry data into homes and businesses. 
   
   He says wireless bandwidth is scarce, and wireless companies have to make sure that no one is hogging that bandwidth. Skorup says the new rules would force those companies to prove to the FCC that their management practices are "reasonable." 
   
   "It puts them through this gantlet of approval, whereas previously, a wireless carrier could just put out a new service," Skorup says. "And now it'll be, 'Does this comply with these half-dozen principles?' or whatever the rules say." 
   
   Big wireless companies agree the new rules would make it harder to manage congestion on their networks, but not all wireless carriers are on the same page here. Sprint and T-Mobile have publicly said they're not opposed to the new rules. And public interest groups say that's proof that wireless is really not so different from the rest of the Internet. 
   
   "If there are indeed reasons that wireless needs to be treated differently, then they can make the case for that," says Craig Aaron, president of the D.C.-based nonprofit Free Press. "But in most cases, it shouldn't be up to your Internet service provider to pick and choose for you which websites are going to work, which apps are going to work." 
   
   But there's something net neutrality advocates dislike about the proposed rules, too — and it's related to what policy wonks call "zero-rating." Basically, that means your wireless provider promises not to count one app or group of apps against your monthly data cap. 
   
   T-Mobile's "Music Freedom" plan, which lets subscribers stream all the music they want without data charges, is one example. That may sound like a good deal for consumers — who doesn't like free data? But critics say there's a problem. 
   
   "I think zero-rating is the next big threat to innovation and free speech online," says Barbara van Schewick, a professor at Stanford Law School. She says the problem with some zero-rating plans is that they create an un-level playing field — where wireless companies can favor their own video services, for example, or strike business deals that favor other big companies. 
   
   "That distorts competition, interferes with user choice," she says. "And that's exactly what network neutrality is designed to protect." 
   
   Van Schewick wants the FCC to take a hard line and ban some forms of zero-rating, but FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai says the commission shouldn't take a stand on zero-rating at all. He says consumers should get to choose any kind of wireless plans they want. 
   
   "My bottom line: If you like your current service plan, you should be able to keep your current service plan," Pai says. "The FCC shouldn't take it away from you." 
   
   That's not what the commission plans to do. FCC officials say they'll decide what kind of zero-rating is allowed on a case-by-case basis. This may sound like a bureaucratic detail, but it's a big deal for wireless companies. In court filings, Verizon said it's one reason why the company sued to block the FCC's last set of net neutrality rules. 
   
   It's a good bet the wireless industry will be taking the commission to court over its new rules, as well. Last month, the president of the industry trade group told Congress that wireless providers "will have no choice but to look to the courts" if the FCC moves ahead with its proposed rules. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
   
   / Updated 
   
   The battle over net neutrality is expected to reach a crucial milestone on Thursday as the FCC votes on whether the Internet should be regulated like a public utility. 
   
   The proposal unveiled earlier this month by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is expected to pass. It treats broadband providers as "common carriers" under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, like gas or electricity companies, instead of "information services," like Google or Facebook. The common carrier designation would give the FCC the authority to regulate Internet service providers (ISPs) to prohibit "fast lanes" that would grant faster access to companies that pay for the privilege. 
   
   It's a win for open Internet activists, but for the average consumer, it's not clear exactly what will change. 
   
   "The day after the FCC order, your broadband will still cost the same amount as it did before," said Kevin Werbach, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. 
   
   "Since 2010, there has been a set of rules, but it was unclear if those rules were enforceable," he said. "All this ruling means is that there will be FCC jurisdiction to examine practices and hear complaints." 
   
   Who will come out on top? 
   
   The debate over net neutrality has often been cast as pitting ISPs like Verizon against Web companies like Google and Netflix. (Comcast, another major Internet service provider, is the parent company of NBCUniversal and NBC News.) 
   
   In reality, it's not easy to divide companies into winners and losers, since it's not clear exactly what actions the FCC will take. 
   
   John Mayo, executive director of Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy, thinks that "public utility-style regulations" could make life harder for cable and Internet companies. 
   
   "If you're a provider of the Internet infrastructure, this measure is going to create a tremendous amount of chaos," he told NBC News. "The natural response of companies faced with legal and regulatory uncertainties is to pull in and reduce risk-taking." 
   
   Meanwhile, Netflix, which campaigned hard for net neutrality rules, should feel reassured that it won't be charged more for the bandwidth it takes up. (Last year, research firm Sandvine estimated that Netflix streaming was responsible for nearly 35 percent of peak Internet traffic in the United States). 
   
   Net neutrality rules likes the ones expected to pass on Thursday have been supported in the past by Google, Facebook and Amazon, as well as smaller companies like Etsy and Reddit. 
   
   The FCC received 3.7 million comments from the public on net neutrality. At one point, 99 percent of them were in favor of regulations like the ones that are expected to pass, according to a study from the Sunlight Foundation, an open government advocacy organization. 
   
   The road ahead 
   
   Some Republicans in Congress have remained defiant, characterizing the proposal as government overreach. 
   
   It's possible that the Republican-controlled Congress could pass legislation that undermines the expected FCC ruling, but it's not clear that such a law could avoid President Barack Obama's veto pen. 
   
   In November, Obama pushed the FCC to institute stronger net neutrality rules, saying that Internet service providers shouldn't be able to "pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas." 
   
   Regardless of legislative action, broadband providers could fight back with their lawyers. 
   
   "This set of rules will undoubtedly be challenged," Werbach said. 
   
   In the end, the new FCC rules mostly affect what could happen, not what is happening now, Werbach said, meaning that broadband providers and Web companies could see very little change in how they do business in the short term. 
   
   "Both sides in this debate tend to exaggerate this as an all-or-nothing decision that will transform the Internet."
target: – The Federal Communications Commission will vote on net neutrality today, after lengthy debate. Though the topic seems destined for the courts, the FCC's decision "is going to be a benchmark," a researcher tells USA Today. The board is expected to approve chairman Tom Wheeler's guidelines to regulate the Internet like a utility, as President Obama suggested. His proposal also labels broadband providers as "common carriers" under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, which means the FCC could prohibit paid prioritization for "fast lanes," NBC News reports. What does that mean for you? "All this ruling means is that there will be FCC jurisdiction to examine practices and hear complaints," a legal professor explains. He bats down claims that this is "an all-or-nothing decision that will transform the Internet," suggesting much is still to be determined. "Your broadband will still cost the same amount as it did before." Essentially Wheeler's rules would mean Internet service providers must treat all traffic equally, which is why Netflix—which claims almost 35% of peak traffic in the US—supports the move. It can't be charged more for the bandwidth it uses. Companies like Etsy, Kickstarter, Tumblr, and Vimeo support rules similar to Wheeler's. In the past, so did Google. But nearly a decade after Google and Facebook first pushed for new rules, the search giant has urged the FCC to draft rules boosting investment in broadband Internet networks, as have net neutrality opponents AT&T and Comcast, the Wall Street Journal reports. An expert predicts the "public utility-style regulations" will "create a tremendous amount of chaos" for cable and Internet companies, particularly when it comes to addressing congestion. They would have to ensure their practices of freeing up bandwidth are "reasonable," NPR reports. The rules also include what's called "zero-rating," which is when an app or group of apps—for example T-Mobile's Music Freedom plan—isn't counted against a user's data cap. Sounds like a bonus, right? "That distorts competition," says one expert. Republicans generally consider Wheeler's rules a government power grab. Congress could respond with legislation that undercuts Wheeler's guidelines, but Obama would likely veto.