FCC seeks comment on broadband reclassification

The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first step toward figuring out how it's going to regulate broadband after losing an important legal battle earlier this year.

At an open meeting Thursday, the FCC voted to open a proceeding that seeks comment on three options for redefining the FCC's role in regulating broadband. The FCC is asking for comments on these new proposals, which it hopes will put it on firmer legal footing, after a federal appeals court ruled in April that the agency did not have authority to sanction Comcast for violating Net neutrality principles. Comcast had been caught throttling BitTorrent transfers on its network.

One of the three choices that the public will comment on includes, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's "third way" proposal for redefining broadband traffic, which would allow the commission to change the classification of broadband services from a lightly regulated Title I Information Service to a more vigorously regulated Title II Telecommunications service. Broadband service providers, such as AT&T and Verizon Communications, are against the "third way" proposal.

For more of this story, read FCC seeks comment on broadband reclassification on CNET News.