President Barack Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to impose stricter rules on Internet providers and treat broadband as much as it would any other public utility.
Obama said the FCC should heavily regulate Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon by preventing them from over-charging data companies like Netflix to move their content more quickly.
"'Net Neutrality' is Obamacare for the Internet," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a tea party favorite, declared on Twitter. "The Internet should not operate at the speed of government."
This move would entail him siding with consumer activists who fear slower download speeds and higher costs but would anger Republicans as well as the country's big cable companies who say that the move would cut off jobs-in fact, the announcement sent Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Comcast stocks falling down.
Meanwhile, the FCC was shocked about the decision.
"We are stunned the president would abandon the longstanding, bipartisan policy of lightly regulating the Internet and calling for extreme" regulation, said Michael Powell, president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the primary lobbying arm of the cable industry, which supplies much of the nation's Internet access.
This "tectonic shift in national policy, should it be adopted, would create devastating results," added Powell, was FCC chairman during the Bush administration until 2005.
"Net neutrality" is the concept that Internet service providers shouldn't block, manipulate or slow data moving across its networks. As long as content isn't illegal, such as pirated music or child pornography, a file or video posted on one site will load generally at the same speed as a similarly sized file or video on another site.
"'Net Neutrality' is Obamacare for the Internet," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a tea party favorite, declared on Twitter.
"The Internet should not operate at the speed of government," he added.
