Barton Net neutrality bill
p2p news / p2pnet: A “highly anticipated bill” in the US congress doesn’t include specific rules saying some Internet sites, “must not be favored over others,” says CNET News.
A November draft of Joe Barton’s bill, “explicitly said broadband providers ‘may not block, or unreasonably impair or interfere with’ Internet access, says the story. “The final version, on the other hand, simply gives the Federal Communications Commission the authority to set rules and publish violations.”
However, senator Ron Wyden, says the legislation, “begins the construction of a multilayered, toll-strewn information superhighway that is out of sync with what has made the Internet work: access for all”.
Wyden earlier this month introduced a bill of his own, “mandating Net neutrality,” says CNET, going on:
“Because Barton’s bill does award the FCC some authority, it’s not a complete win for broadband providers. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the primary cable lobby group, said in response that ‘we continue to believe that the better course is for the government to resist injecting itself into a thriving, dynamic market’.”
A “vague” FCC policy statement on Net neutrality says consumers should be able to access the Internet content of their choice, says the story, adding:
“This month, though, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin added that broadband providers must be permitted to invest in their networks and “recoup their costs” – a statement that was widely viewed as taking issue with strict Net neutrality mandates.
Meanwhile, World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee strongly supports Net neutrality, saying, “It stops being the Net if a supplier of downloaded video pays to connect to a particular set of consumers who are connected to a particular cable company. It would no longer be an open information space.
“The whole point of the Web is when you arrive it’s more or less the same for everybody. That integrity is really essential. … I’m very concerned.”
Also See:
CNET News – Net neutrality fans lose on Capitol Hill, March 27, 2006
strongly supports – Berners-Lee wants Net neutrality, March 28, 2006
March 28th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
Message from AT&T:
Hi guys,
The bill for the the new cable installations arrived again, so if you use our service, be nice and send us a couple of bucks so we can recoup some of our costs.
Thanks