Groups say FCC proposal not real network neutrality

Public interest groups, businesses and civil rights groups signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, saying network 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. 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.