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​FCC Chief Says He Agrees With Obama on Net Neutrality. Critics Are Skeptical

“Wheeler is playing word games,” said Marvin Ammori, a prominent First Amendment lawyer who supports net neutrality. “It doesn’t make sense. There’s a huge difference between Wheeler's rhetoric and his proposal.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler declared on Friday that he is "in agreement" with President Obama's opposition to internet "fast lanes," but critics aren't buying it. They say Wheeler's controversial net neutrality proposal opens the door to that very thing.

Wheeler's comments, delivered during a press conference following the FCC's monthly meeting, came one week after Obama issued a strong statement opposing "paid prioritization," which Open Internet advocates say is anathema to net neutrality, the principle that broadband providers should treat all data equally.

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On Friday, Wheeler said that he and Obama, who last year appointed the former industry lobbyist and venture capitalist as FCC chairman, are on the same page.

"The president and I are in agreement and have always been," Wheeler said.

The kerfuffle over whether Obama and Wheeler are actually in agreement about net neutrality is just the latest twist in the FCC's highly-politicized effort to craft Open Internet rules, after a federal court threw out the agency's previous rules in January.

"Wheeler is playing word games," said Marvin Ammori, a prominent First Amendment lawyer who supports net neutrality. "It doesn't make sense. There's a huge difference between Wheeler's rhetoric and his proposal."

Ammori and other net neutrality advocates—including dozens of US lawmakers, policy experts, and startups—are urging the FCC to reclassify broadband service under so-called Title II common carrier regulations. Such reclassification, they argue, would give the commission the authority to ensure that broadband providers don't block or discriminate against online services—two principles that are at the heart of net neutrality.

Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T vehemently oppose such a move, which they say would allow "unprecedented government micromanagement of all aspects of the internet economy." They say that reclassification would deter them from making capital investments needed to improve and expand their service.

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Wheeler has proposed a new policy that stops short of "reclassification," and that critics say would open to the door to so-called paid prioritization—aka "fast lanes"—which many Open Internet advocates argue would sound the death knell for net neutrality. Wheeler's proposal sparked a huge backlash from net neutrality advocates who flooded the FCC with a record-breaking 3.7 million comments, most opposing his plan.

Speaking at a "Town Hall for Innovation" in Los Angeles last week, Obama said he opposes "paid prioritization, the notion that somehow some folks can pay a little more money and get better service, more exclusive access to customers through the Internet." The president added he expects "whatever final rules to emerge to make sure that we're not creating two or three or four tiers of Internet."

Wheeler has gone to significant lengths to argue that he and Obama are of one mind about net neutrality. "I believe that on the important question of paid prioritization and opportunity that is created by an Open Internet, the President and I are in agreement and have always been," Wheeler said Friday.

But critics say that Wheeler's actual proposal undercuts that claim.

"Wheeler has long said that he believes in an open Internet, but the details of his proposed rules belie that position," said Julie Samuels, executive director of Engine, an advocacy group that advises startups and supports Title II reclassification. "The president's statement was, of course, much stronger, clearly disavowing fast and slow lanes. We all know that is the only way to ensure a level playing field on the Internet."

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Obama and Wheeler are engaged in something of a delicate dance about net neutrality. Although the president appoints the FCC chairman, the FCC is an independent agency that oversees the nation's communications infrastructure as well as the largest telecom, cable and satellite companies. "I can't just call [Wheeler] up and tell him exactly what to do," Obama said last week.

Obama can't order Wheeler to act one way or another, and it would be inappropriate for him to publicly support—or oppose—Title II reclassification. Nonetheless, Obama appears to be sending not-so-subtle signals that stop short of spelling out his position one way or the other. "My appointee, Tom Wheeler, knows my position," Obama said last week.

Some Open Internet advocates have suggested that Wheeler wants to avoid antagonizing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which furiously opposes Title II reclassification. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican who serves as Vice Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC, has called net neutrality rules "socialistic," a view that is shared by many members of her caucus.

But several prominent Democratic lawmakers have made clear that they would support Wheeler in the inevitable political fight with the GOP, if he decides to reclassify broadband under Title II.

"I believe the FCC should follow the court's guidance and reclassify broadband as a Telecommunications Service under Title II of the Communications Act," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said last month.

Samuels, executive director of Engine, says that if Wheeler really is in agreement with Obama's opposition to paid prioritization and a multi-tiered Internet, he should demonstrate that agreement with real action, not just words. "We're glad to see Wheeler support the President's statement, and we hope we'll see rules that actually back that up," Samuels said. "So far, of course, we have not seen that from the Chairman."