Obama calls for more regulation of Internet providers


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President Obama threw down the gauntlet Monday with cable companies and Internet providers by declaring they shouldn?t be allowed to cut deals with online services like YouTube to move their content faster.

It was his most definitive statement to date on so-called ?net neutrality,? and escalates a battle that has been simmering for years between industry groups and Internet activists who warn against the creation of Internet ?fast lanes.? The president?s statement swiftly drew an aggressive response from trade groups, which are fighting against additional regulation, as well as congressional Republicans.

"We are stunned the president would abandon the longstanding, bipartisan policy of lightly regulating the Internet and calling for extreme" regulation, said Michael Powell, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the primary lobbying arm of the cable industry.

Obama, in his statement, called for an ?explicit ban? on ?paid prioritization,? or better, faster service for companies that pay extra. The president said federal regulators should reclassify the Internet as a public utility under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act.

"For almost a century, our law has recognized that companies who connect you to the world have special obligations not to exploit the monopoly they enjoy over access in and out of your home or business," Obama said in his statement. "That is why a phone call from a customer of one phone company can reliably reach a customer of a different one, and why you will not be penalized solely for calling someone who is using another provider. It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information -- whether a phone call, or a packet of data."

Obama's statement puts him in the middle of a debate between industry groups and the Federal Communications Commission, which is under public pressure ? now from Obama as well -- to prevent broadband providers from creating the ?fast lanes.?

The FCC is nearing a decision on how far to go to protect Internet consumers from deals between broadband providers like Verizon and AT&T and content companies like Netflix or YouTube.

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