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Update April 24, 1:31 p.m. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler released a statement Thursday clarifying how the new rules will work after a number of reports allegedly mis-stated how much the new rules harken the end times of net neutrality. In short, Wheeler wants everyone to chill. These are the new regulations proposed by the FCC as plainly explained by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler:

That all ISPs must transparently disclose to their subscribers and users all relevant information as to the policies that govern their network; That no legal content may be blocked; and That ISPs may not act in a commercially unreasonable manner to harm the Internet, including favoring the traffic from an affiliated entity.

Glad that is settled.

Original: The Wall Street Journal reports the FCC will propose new rules on Thursday that will "allow broadband providers to give some traffic preferential treatment." Reuters reports the FCC will vote on the new rules on May 15.

Now, things are not as bad as they sound. (Or not as bad as they could be, anyway.) Any deals between content companies and ISPs will require FCC approval, and ISPs can't block or discriminate traffic in any way. So strictly speaking, content companies can pay for a bump, or a shortcut, that delivers their content at faster speeds, but ISPs cannot slow down competitors. This is an important point, though some net neutrality activists might argue that there's really no distinction there. He who pays the most, gets the best treatment.