--- title: Obama Bucks FCC In Calling for Broadband Reclassification description: President Barack Obama called on Monday for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility. canonical: https://time.com/3575842/obama-broadband-internet/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-10T15:22:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T00:24:31.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Bucks FCC In Calling for Broadband Reclassification og:description: President Barack Obama called on Monday for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility. og:url: https://time.com/3575842/obama-broadband-internet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea2f574a729f4ac2/698767f6cd6848ac4b097e96/458460230.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-MIDTERMS-OBAMA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Bucks FCC In Calling for Broadband Reclassification twitter:description: President Barack Obama called on Monday for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea2f574a729f4ac2/698767f6cd6848ac4b097e96/458460230.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Bucks FCC in Calling for Broadband Reclassification > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6c55f0d7-3968-4cff-9ea8-094eb3ba79ea&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Obama's Statement on Keeping the Internet Open and Free [Watch (HLS stream): President Obama's Statement on Keeping the Internet Open and Free](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/61yvDpEX.m3u8) (1:56)  _Published 2014-11-10. President Obama's Statement on Keeping the Internet Open and Free_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:24 AM UTCPublished: Nov 10, 2014 3:22 PM UTC President Obama's Statement on Keeping the Internet Open and Free by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:24 AM UTCPublished: Nov 10, 2014 3:22 PM UTC President Barack Obama called Monday for the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a utility, a move that would spark a major legislative and legal battle between lawmakers, advocates and the telecommunications industry and sets up a showdown with one of the President’s own appointees. “I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act,” Obama wrote, a move that would be necessary for the federal government to enforce Obama’s proposed Internet content rule fulfilling four principles: preventing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from blocking access to legal content, keeping them from “throttling” some types of Internet traffic, apply net neutrality rules between ISPs and the rest of the Internet, and banning paid-prioritization, the practice by which some content would be stuck in a “slow lane” unless a higher fee is paid. Those rules, Obama said, should also be applied to mobile broadband networks. (**MORE:** [8 Things You Should Know About Net Neutrality](http://time.com/102268/net-neutrality-facts/)) Obama’s call for broadband reclassification came in a video and [open letter](http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality) posted on the White House website further reaffirming the President’s support of net neutrality, the idea that Internet providers should treat all content as equal in terms of speed. Obama first stated his support for the principle since when he was a presidential candidate in 2007. Obama’s comments Monday follow public outcry over FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s most recent net neutrality proposal, which many say could allow ISPs to create “fast lanes” and “slow lanes” for some Internet content. Wheeler, an Obama nominee and former telecom lobbyist, offered that proposal after an appeals court in January [struck down](http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304049704579320500441593462) his agency’s prior net neutrality rules. The FCC is also reportedly considering a hybrid approach that would apply strict regulation on Internet traffic between providers, while putting a lighter touch on “last-mile” traffic between consumers’ providers and their homes. “Today, I am asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to answer the call of almost 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,” Obama said. “I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online.” (**MORE:** [Net Neutrality Advocates Angered by FCC’s Planned New Rules](http://time.com/74703/net-neutrality-fcc-rules-plan-angers-advocates/)) Still, Obama admitted his power to steer the FCC’s decision-making process is limited. “The FCC is an independent agency, and ultimately this decision is theirs alone,” Obama added. “I believe the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online.” “As an independent regulatory agency we will incorporate the President’s submission into the record of the Open Internet proceeding,” Wheeler said in a Monday statement. “We welcome comment on it and how it proposes to use Title II of the Communications Act.” “The more deeply we examined the issues around the various legal options, the more it has become plain that there is more work to do,” he [added](http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily%5FReleases/Daily%5FBusiness/2014/db1110/DOC-330414A1.pdf). As a candidate, Obama pledged that his nominees to the FCC would be of similar mind when it comes to net neutrality, a pledge that has gone soft as all three Obama-appointees to the commission backed the “fast lanes” proposal. Obama’s statement follows intense public pressure on the White House to speak up in favor of net neutrality, and raises the stakes for Wheeler and other FCC commissioners as they seek to finalize a new rule on the matter. ## Transcript Hi, everybody. Ever since the Internet was created, it's been organized around basic principles of openness, fairness and freedom. There are no gatekeepers deciding which sites you get to access. There are no toll roads on the information superhighway. This set of principles, the idea of net neutrality, has unleashed the power of the Internet and given innovators the chance to thrive. Abandoning these principles would threaten to end the Internet as we know it. That's why I'm laying out a plan to keep the Internet free and open. And that's why I'm urging the Federal Communications Commission to do everything they can to protect net neutrality for everyone. They should make it clear that whether you use a computer, phone, or tablet, internet providers have a legal obligation not to block or limit your access to a website. Cable companies can't decide which online stores you can shop at. Or which streaming services you can use. And they can't let any company pay for priority over its competitors. To put these protections in place, I'm asking the FCC to reclassify Internet service under Title 2 of a law known as the Telecommunications Act. In plain English, I'm asking them to recognize that for most Americans ,. The internet has become an essential part of everyday communication in everyday life. The FCC is an independent agency and ultimately this decision is theirs alone. But the public has already commented nearly four million times asking the FCC to make sure that consumers, not the cable company gets to decide which sites they use. Americans are making their voices heard and standing up for the principles that make the internet a powerful force for change. 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