It’s the day after the big Federal Communications Commission vote approving Net neutrality, and the reaction is anything but neutral. Neutrality advocates, some telcos, and some politicians are not happy, but a few observers backed the measure as a step forward.
The vote was, as expected, 3-2, with the three Democratic commissioners in favor and the two Republicans opposed. In an op-ed recently in The Wall Street Journal, Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell described the plan as “jaw-dropping interventionist chutzpah as the FCC bypasses branches of our government in the dogged pursuit of needless and harmful regulation.”
‘A Small Step Forward’
On the other side of the fence, the pro-neutrality Free Press said the proposal ignores “overwhelming public support for real Net neutrality, instead moving forward with industry-written rules that will for the first time in Internet history allow discrimination online.”
Although the three Democratic commissioners supported the plan, some leading Democratic politicians think it’s insufficient. In particular, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called the plan “worse than nothing,” although he later described it as “a small step forward — too small by my estimation, but forward nonetheless.”
Republican politicians, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, were nearly universal in opposing Net neutrality on the grounds that it mandates too much government interference in the marketplace.
Among the big four U.S. carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T expressed strong disapproval, while Sprint Nextel called it “a fair and balanced approach” and T-Mobile adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, who attended the FCC meeting Tuesday, said he didn’t think the rules “went far enough.”
In a press release issued after the vote, the FCC pointed to three major rules enacted by the proposal. Rule 1 is transparency, requiring companies to “publicly disclose accurate information” so consumers can make informed choices. The FCC, for instance, took action against Comcast…