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FCC pushes back deadline for people to weigh in on net neutrality rules

FCC pushes back deadline for people to weigh in on net neutrality rules

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Five extra days to reply to 1.1 million public comments.

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The US Federal Communications Commission is giving people nearly a week more to weigh in Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal for a new net neutrality framework. Today the FCC said people have until September 15th (a month from now) to reply to comments made by others as part of an earlier phase that wrapped up July 18th. The previous deadline (September 10th) would have given people a month, however the FCC's site was slammed in the beginning of the process and unable to handle the influx of traffic, causing the original public comment deadline to get pushed back.

A set of rules proposed by the FCC back in May will either ban or permit paid prioritization of internet traffic. As part of the process, the FCC opened it up to public debate, resulting in 1.1 million comments, some of which included death threats and profanity. Critics are concerned that the so-called "fast lanes" could hurt consumers and innovation, while some of the companies pushing for those fast lanes say certain online activities could benefit from prioritization. Which of those two options the FCC goes with depends on a final vote expected later this year.