Technology, Net Neutrality | featured news

The Senate on Thursday voted to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission's controversial rules aimed at preserving open Internet access... The Democratic controlled FCC voted 3-2 along party lines in December to adopt regulations that prohibit telecommunications companies from favoring their online services over those of competitors. The rules, which apply to wired and wireless services, forbid companies from blocking access by their customers to any legal content, applications or services.

With its rules on network neutrality, the FCC has protected the current state of the Internet, left the future of the web unregulated and punted on most of the challenging issues that lay before it -- from requiring wireless networks to be open to allowing managed services.

Federal regulators are poised to enact controversial new rules affecting Internet access, marking the government's strongest move yet to ensure that Facebook updates, Google searches and Skype calls reach consumers' homes unimpeded.

US regulators are set for a showdown later this month over rules to ensure an open internet.

When Google was a pure search engine, it was easy to appear agnostic about search results, with no reason to play favorites with one Web site or another. But as Google has branched out into online services from maps and videos to comparison shopping, it has acquired pecuniary incentives to favor its own over rivals.

US regulators announce a "third way" to salvage efforts to give every citizen access to high-speed internet.

Published reports say the FCC will propose new rules designed to ensure the free flow of information and applications over the Internet.