'US FCC proposal not real net neutrality'

WASHINGTON: The open Internet principles laid out by the top U.S. telecommunications regulator last week fall short of "real" net neutrality, more than 80 groups said in a letter on Friday.

Public interest groups, businesses and civil rights groups signed the letter to the Federal Communications Commission, saying net neutrality rules should ban paid prioritization of online content.

They also said the framework FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski laid out last week gave wireless carriers too much freedom to police Internet traffic.

"This is a make-or-break issue, and the signatories on this letter are unequivocal in their demand that fatal flaws with Chairman Genachowski's draft proposal be fixed immediately," Sascha Meinrath, director of New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative, said on Friday.

The FCC is scheduled to take up the contentious open Internet rules at its Dec. 21 meeting.

Genachowski last week proposed banning the blocking of lawful traffic but allowing Internet providers to manage network congestion and charge consumers based on Internet usage.

The rules would be more flexible for wireless broadband, Genachowski said, acknowledging that wireless is at an earlier stage of development than terrestrial Internet service.

Specific details of the draft order have not been made public as the commissioners are still working to shape the final proposal.

In the letter, the groups identified what they consider to be shortfalls in the proposal that could allow Internet providers to "harm consumers, stifle innovation and threaten to carve up the Internet in irreversible ways."

Among the areas needing improvement was the flexibility granted to wireless carriers.

"This incomplete protection would destroy innovation in the mobile apps and content space, permanently enshrining Verizon and AT&T as the gatekeepers for all new uses of the wireless Web," the letter said.

Wireless carriers like Verizon Communications and AT&T Inc want to prioritize Internet traffic on congested wireless networks and have said they already do so to allow handsets to make and receive phone calls.