(The Daily Caller) The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 in favor of adopting Chairman Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality plan, establishing the most broad authority to regulate Internet service providers ever proposed.

Commissioners split along partisan lines with Democrats Wheeler, Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel voting in the affirmative and Republicans Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly in the negative.

The proposal, which has not been released to the public at the time of this writing, was announced by Wheeler earlier this month and described by the chairman as “the strongest open internet protections ever proposed by the FCC.”

Under the plan, the FCC will regulate Internet service providers (ISPs) under a modernized interpretation of Title II of the 1996 Telecommunications Act — a regulatory proposal inspired by those used to break up telephone monopolies in the 1930s.

Under Wheeler’s “21st century” Title II, the FCC will regulate ISPs essentially as public utilities, and bar them from segregating or blocking Internet content, establishing fast and slow lanes for web traffic or requiring Internet content creators to set up special deals and pay higher prices for acceptable transmission speeds.

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