Sunlight: 99 percent of network neutrality comments wanted stronger FCC rules

The Sunlight Foundation wrapped up its weeks-long study of the more than 1 million initial comments filed to the Federal Communications Commission on network neutrality.

The top-line results are unsurprising, with less than 1 percent of 800,000 commenters calling for Internet providers to be regulated more lightly. That's consistent with a major push by consumer advocates to convince FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to adopt stronger rules on Internet service providers. The study comes with some important caveats. Out of the 1.1 million comments the FCC said it received, Sunlight was only able to process 800,000 because some comments were mailed in to the agency and weren't available online when Sunlight began looking at the comments. Others came bundled together in packs that Sunlight had to break apart to make sense of.

Despite the incomplete analysis, the research is the most credible one we've seen to date and shows an overwhelming bias toward stronger regulation. About two-thirds of the studied comments called for reclassifying broadband providers under Title II of the Communications Act — a move that would allow the FCC to regulate ISPs more heavily but would likely provoke a strong political backlash.