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Senate Prepares for Net Neutrality Showdown

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 20, 2006

Net Neutrality • Internet Providers Ponder Bandwidth Limits For Heavy Users • Comcast, Cox Caught Blocking BitTorrent • Will Antitrust Law Save Net Neutrality? • Few Are Neutral in Net Neutrality Battles • Net Neutrality Supporters Testify • Comcast Blocks Public From FCC Hearing • Congress Gets Net Neutrality Legislation • Time Warner To Test Metered Pricing For Broadband • House Committee To Probe FCC • FCC To Investigate Comcast For Blocking Net Traffic • Verizon Wireless Opens Network to All Devices, Software • Comcast Sued Over Internet Blocking • Verizon Overrides Internet Searches With Its Own Results • Comcast Blocks Subscribers From Some Services • Verizon's Abortion Block Raises Net Neutrality Concerns • FTC Nixes Net Neutrality • Wireless Spectrum May Hold Key To Net Neutrality • Telcos Lift Block On FreeConference.Com • FCC Takes Another Look at Net Neutrality • AT&T Blocks Calls To Competing Conference Call Service • Study: Ending Net Neutrality Would Hurt Consumers • FCC, FTC Challenged To Protect Net Neutrality • Net Neutrality Back on Congress' Agenda • Net Neutrality Opponents Step Up PR Blitz • AT&T Trumpets New TV Service • Verizon Joins BellSouth in Retreat From Unexplained New DSL Fee • FCC Nudges BellSouth Into Giving Up New DSL Fees • FTC Head Urges "Caution" On Net Neutrality • Net Neutrality May Derail Telecom Bill • Google: No Net Neutrality Means Antitrust Fight • Senate Prepares for Net Neutrality Showdown • Congress Moves Quickly To Satisfy Telecoms' Net Neutrality, Cable Entry Demands • Net Neutrality Gets Its Day In Congress • Net Neutrality Wins Committee Vote In Congress • Net Neutrality Attracts Surprising Allies • Congress Wrestles with Net Neutrality

As the Senate Commerce Committee prepares to vote on bringing the most sweeping changes to telecommunications law in a decade to the floor, disagreements over the right of "net neutrality" are threatening to derail the entire process.

In order to effect a compromise on the battles over the right to access Internet content equally, Commerce Committee chair and telecom law author Ted Stevens (R-AK) offered an "Internet Bill of Rights" that would strengthen consumers' ability to file complaints with the FCC if they believed their Internet service was favoring some brands of content over others.

Stevens' changes would also mandate the FCC study the issue for five years to determine if net neutrality is genuinely threatened.

Those changes were not enough for Commerce co-chair and the law's co-sponsor, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI). Inouye noted that the bill "utterly [fails] to protect consumers and preserve an open Internet."

"Under the current language, network operators will have the ability to dictate what the Internet of the future will look like, what content it will include, and how it will operate," Inouye said.

Inouye's objections raised the spectre of the Senate failing to pass new telecom law before the summer recess. The Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled to "mark up" the Stevens Bill on June 22nd, which will determine if it is passed to the full Senate for a vote.

The House of Representatives passed its version of telecom law, authored by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), that largely favored the interests of telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T, but the House and Senate bills must be reconciled in joint committee and signed by President Bush before becoming law.

With a shortened legislative term due to the November elections, major telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T are desperate to see new laws on the books that will enable them to compete with cable companies for consumer dollars.

One centerpiece of both the House and Senate bills will lift franchising requirements and allow the telecoms to start rolling out cable offerings in markets far more quickly than the existing process allows.

But Internet content providers, bloggers, small business owners, and technology experts believe the new laws will enable Internet service providers (ISPs) and network operators to block or discriminate against content they don't favor, and the resulting public outcry has put telecommunications and cable companies alike on the defensive.

Supporters of the "Save The Internet" coalition, the primary group supporting net neutrality rights, urged voters to call their Senators and tell them to oppose the Stevens bill unless stronger net neutrality protections are offered.

A primary concern of net neutrality supporters is that a "tiered access" Internet, where customers pay more for faster service, will favor wealthier business clients over lower- and middle-income consumers. In a conveniently timed move for the Senate vote, AT&T recently announced a $100 million initiative to provide up to 15,000 families with basic computer equipment, training, and free Internet access.

Verizon announced that it would be adding programming offered by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), including childrens' shows and content aimed at Hispanic viewers, to the rollout of its high-speed FIOS Internet service.

Another issue surrounding the telecom legislation is that of competition, and the telecoms were dealt a blow on that front as well. The D.C. Circuit Court ruled on June 18th that telecoms must continue the practice of "unbundling," or allowing business competitors to resell service on their lines for discounted prices.

The FCC had partially reversed course on that issue in 2003, stating that telecom network providers didn't have to share their lines with consumer Internet providers. This led to the infamous "FCC vs. Brand X" Supreme Court decision in 2005, which ruled in favor of the FCC.

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