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Net Neutrality Supporters Testify

House Committee hears testimony on Internet access

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 12, 2008 

Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) set the tone for the hearing in his opening statement, when he said that the power exerted by incumbent telecom and cable companies over Internet access could best be fought with antitrust enforcement, and preserving net neutrality would be a part of that.

"Under [the] proposed business models, what treatment you get will be determined by how much you pay or, potentially, whether the Internet Service Provider approves of the content you are sending over their pipes or, perhaps, has a financial interest," Conyers said. "To be sure, if we go in this direction, it will stifle future innovation on the Internet."

The committee heard testimony from a diverse group, including Damian Kulash, lead singer of rock band OK Go.

Kulash, whose group won fame for their creative videos posted on YouTube, said that, "If people wonder whether the music industry will benefit from Net Neutrality they can look no further than us." "There is a real consensus with us that Net Neutrality is good for music. I'm here to ask Congress today to preserve Net Neutrality and the future of the Internet," Kulash said.

Caroline Frederickson, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union, echoed Conyers' sentiments by saying that, "We do not want to regulate the Internet – we just want to ensure that nondiscrimination rules continue to apply to the [Internet service providers] that provide Internet access."

"Otherwise, the Internet will be transformed from a shining oasis of speech to a desert of discrimination that serves to promote only the [Internet service providers'] commercial products," Frederickson said.

Michele Combs, vice president of communications for the Christian Coalition, a charter member of the "Save the Internet" coalition dedicated to preserving net neutrality, discussed the importance of the Internet for religious organizing and community building.

"Simply put, free speech should not stop when you turn on your computer or pick up your cell phone," Combs said. "The Christian Coalition testified some time ago on this issue and many members of Congress promised to act if network operators blocked political speech. We are here today to say, 'network operators are blocking political speech.'"

The speakers referenced several recent examples of Internet service providers or network providers interfering with access to content, such as Verizon Wireless' brief ban of text messages sent from NARAL Pro-Choice America and its abrupt reversal of policy, AT&T censoring a Webcast of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder's criticism of President Bush, and Comcast's blocking users from file-sharing services such as BitTorrent.

"There are now multiple examples of discrimination by ISPs against certain groups and particular content," Frederickson said. "These rather stark instances of censorship in the face of very close public scrutiny highlight the need for Congressional action."

Although members of both houses of Congress tried to pass legislation protecting net neutrality in the previous Republican-dominated majority, the efforts were stalled. Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey brought the issue back to life last month when he and Mississippi Republican Chip Pickering introduced the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act," mandating that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) use its power to investigate antitrust violations to investigate allegations of Internet content discrimination.

The issue also received fresh press when Comcast was exposed as having paid people off the streets to fill up seats at an FCC hearing discussing their content blocking activities in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The placeholders prevented many critics of Comcast from attending the meeting, sparking fresh outrage at what some observers called "underhanded tactics."

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