Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is not convinced that the FCC should treat consumer broadband service as a utility despite President Obama urging him to do so.

A report last night in The Washington Post says Wheeler met Monday with Web companies including Google, Yahoo, and Etsy and told them that he wants to find a compromise that addresses the concerns of Internet service providers such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and AT&T. Wheeler was formerly a lobbyist for the cable and wireless industries.

“What you want is what everyone wants: an open Internet that doesn’t affect your business,” Wheeler told attendees of the meeting, according to the Post's sources. “What I’ve got to figure out is how to split the baby.”

Obama argued that reclassifying consumer broadband service as a utility is the best way to implement net neutrality rules that prevent ISPs from blocking or throttling Web services or prioritizing traffic in exchange for payment. Obama noted that the FCC is an independent agency that can vote however it wants, a message Wheeler apparently has taken to heart.

"I am an independent agency," Wheeler said repeatedly during the meeting, according to the Post's sources.

While the Post story said Wheeler is "moving in a different direction" from the president's plan, it did not provide any details as to what that direction is. Before Obama's call for a full reclassification of broadband as a utility, Wheeler was reportedly close to settling on a hybrid approach in which the service ISPs offer to content providers would be treated as a utility while the service ISPs offer to consumers would remain a lightly regulated information service.

"Wheeler worries that the president’s more drastic approach is too simplistic, according to people familiar with his thinking," the Post wrote. "With his long experience in the telecommunications industry, Wheeler is well aware of concerns that ill-considered regulations could stifle innovation and slow the growth of the country’s broadband infrastructure, those people said. And he worries that the White House is being naive about the ripple effects of changing how a major piece of national infrastructure is governed."

Wheeler's one public statement on Obama's plan said, "The President’s statement is an important and welcome addition to the record of the Open Internet proceeding." Wheeler also said he wants rules that will hold up in court. So far, both the "hybrid" and full reclassification approaches have brought threats of lawsuits from ISPs.

UPDATE: Two people who were in the meeting Monday disputed the Post's account in an appearance on the Diane Rehm Show. Gigi Sohn, the FCC's special counsel for external affairs, said, "those comments were completely taken out of context. The chairman and the FCC will look at the president's comments just like it will look at the other 4 million coments and will come to a conclusion. Nobody should draw the conclusion that the chairman is either going to follow the president or diverge from the president. All options are on the table."

Marvin Ammori, a lawyer and net neutrality advocate, agreed that the Post story was "a little inaccurate... It wasn't clear to me that Tom Wheeler was indicating one way or the other," he said. Wheeler did not say that he is moving in a different direction from the president, according to Ammori.

FCC spokesperson Kim Hart contacted Ars with a statement, saying, "Reports that Chairman Wheeler has decided on the best approach for implementing legally sustainable open Internet rules are inaccurate. No decision has been made. All options remain on the table, including Title II reclassification.”

Additionally, the Huffington Post quoted more meeting participants who disputed the interpretation that Wheeler has decided to go against the president's wishes. “I think he hasn't made up his mind yet," said Julie Samuels, executive director of Engine, which advocates for startups.