Mfarhanonline Social Media News: The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to restrict the FCC’s ability to regulate how Internet service providers manage their networks, a move that could endanger net neutrality if it were to pass both houses of Congress. House Joint Resolution 37 , “Disapproving the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to regulating the Internet and broadband industry practices,” passed the House with a vote of 240 to 179, mostly along party lines. The resolution specifically condemns the Federal Communications Commission’s new net neutrality rules and “prohibits such rule from having any force or effect.” The joint resolution still has to pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama before it becomes a law. The resolution is unlikely to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and President Obama has threatened to veto the measure if it ever reaches his desk. The heart of the matter is whether the government should regulate ISPs, specifically on how they treat content on their networks. Supporters of net neutrality believe ISPs shouldn’t be allowed to block or throttle content for almost any reason. Their argument is that an ISP such as Verizon or Comcast could decide to charge consumers or companies different rates for access to their networks (e.g. paying extra for streaming video). Opponents of net neutrality believe that the government shouldn’t be regulating Internet access or ISPs and that regulation sets a dangerous precedent. There are a lot of potential worst case scenarios out there for both sides. The finer points of the debate have erupted into court challenges and heated arguments. In December, the FCC approved Chairman Julius Genachowski’s initiative to prevent ISPs from discriminating against legal content. Net neutrality supports comp! lained t hat the new rules didn’t go far enough to protect an “open Internet,” specifically, the growing wireless web accessed by millions of smartphone users. Wireless providers and Republican opponents argued that government intervention was a slippery slope to less innovation and more job losses. Today’s vote only complicates the net neutrality debate, which is already an field with many players and a lot of undecided issues. It’s going to be a long time before the fate of net neutrality is decided — if, in fact, it ever is. More About: fcc , Google , government , House of Representatives , net neutrality , verizon For more Tech & Gadgets coverage: Follow Mfarhanonline Tech & Gadgets on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channel Download our free apps for Android , Mac , iPhone and iPad Social Media reviews series maintain by Mayya
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