FCC Net Neutrality Vote Scheduled For December 21?

The FCC has postponed its next hearing by more than two weeks, pushing the next scheduled meeting from December 2 to December 21 and prompting speculation that the agency is readying itself for a vote on net neutrality. According to InformationWeek, the three Democratic commissioners on the board are likely to vote for "consumer-friendly regulation" while their two Republican counterparts will be pushing for "relatively unfettered oversight favoring industry players."

The vote could have significant impact on the nature of the internet service users in the US experience. Already the Court of Appeals of Washington has ruled in Comcast's favor over a cease and desist order imposed by the FCC in April 2010, after the ISP throttled video bandwidth in order to preserve sufficient pipe for regular browsers.