The US has proposed new rules that would require Internet companies to respect the principle of "network neutrality".
The head of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) said that "all web traffic should be treated equally".
He proposed two new rules to guide the FCC's approach to network neutrality, the BBC reported.
The first would prevent Internet service providers (ISPs) from discriminating against bandwidth-intensive web-content and applications by slowing or blocking it.
The second would mean that ISPs would have to be more transparent about how they manage network traffic.
The two new rules join four previous guiding principles of the FCC, which state that all consumers must be able to access "lawful" content, applications, and services, and attach non-harmful devices to the network.
Networks on both sides of the Atlantic have long argued for a two-tier system, where those that can pay are given priority over those that cannot.
"There are few goals more essential in the communications landscape than preserving and maintaining an open and robust Internet. t is vital that the Internet continue to be an engine of innovation, economic growth, competition and democratic engagement", FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.
Monday, 21 September 2009
US Proposes New Network Neutrality Rules
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