To Whom Does the Internet Belong? New Federal Rules May Attempt to Answer That

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whose Internet is it anyway?

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission says he's keeping that question in mind as he pitches the biggest regulatory shake-up to the telecommunications industry since 1996.

Tom Wheeler hasn't come out with his plan yet, and might not for a few weeks. But he has suggested that Internet service has become as critical to people in the United States as water, electricity or phone service and should be regulated like any other public utility.

Wheeler says he wants "yardsticks in place to determine what is in the best interest of consumers as opposed to what is in the best interest of the gatekeepers."

That has the industry sounding the alarms and warning consumers of a tax increase on each U.S. wireless account.

(Story by: Anne Flaherty, The Associated Press)

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