Amidst backlash over his proposed net neutrality rules, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will reportedly circulate revised rules that spell out what the agency will and will not accept from broadband providers.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the updated rules specify that the FCC will review any sort of paid prioritization deals to make sure they don't unfairly disadvantage other companies.

The draft, an FCC official told the Journal, will also ask for comment on whether such paid deals should be banned altogether. Or, if the FCC should scrap its plan and seek to reclassify broadband as a telecom service instead of an information service.

The news comes ahead of a May 15 vote on the rules. Other commissioners had recommended that Wheeler delay a vote, but it appears to still be on the agenda. If it passes, the FCC would open up a public comment period, after which the rules might be revised again before a final vote.

The FCC approved net neutrality rules in 2010, but Verizon sued, arguing that the agency did not have the authority to regulate the issue. Earlier this year, an appeals court agreed, effectively striking down the FCC's rules.

As a result, the agency - under its new chairman - has been trying to come up with a solution that will pass legal muster. What Wheeler came up with was a plan that would allow paid prioritization deals that were "commercially reasonable." The FCC hasn't decided what would classify as commercially reasonable, but the mere mention of paid prioritization had Internet activists up in arms, as it is basically the exact opposite of what net neutrality is supposed to accomplish.

Wheeler has insisted that he will not allow for a broadband provider to get away with behavior that would harm the open internet. But critics are not convinced, including Sen. Al Franken, who called this the free speech issue of our time.