After the U.S. House approved a controversial telco bill and
rejected an amendment that sought to keep large telephone or cable
TV companies from controlling access to the Internet, supporters of
that "net neutrality" amendment vowed to fight on.
In a conference call Friday, leaders of nine businesses and
public policy groups in the nascent It's Our Net Coalition said
they weren't surprised by the House vote and will now concentrate
on the Senate version of the bill.
The measure adopted by the House, known as the Communications
Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, is a broad
telecommunications bill covering broadband, cable franchising,
voice over IP and other Internet technologies, as well as the rules
that govern them.
The issue, said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, is
that since the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled last year that broadband services don't fall
under traditional communications regulatory policies, no one is
looking out for businesses and consumers that use the Internet.
Public Knowledge is a Washington-based public interest advocacy
group that studies technology, copyright and broadband policy.
By ruling that broadband access shouldn't be regulated under
existing laws, broadband providers have carte blanche to charge
more for higher levels of service and block Web sites and content
they want to block, she said.
The coalition had wanted the House to approve a specially
crafted net neutrality amendment to the bill, which included
language to ensure fair access to the Internet without
discrimination, Sohn said.
The larger bill passed by a vote of 321 to 101, while the
amendment failed 269 to 152.
Sohn said the coalition, which includes Microsoft Corp., Google
Inc., eBay Inc., Amazon.com, Yahoo Inc. and other tech-related
firms, will continue efforts to educate the public about the new
telecom bill and its shortcomings. "The Senate bill has a very
steep uphill climb," she said. "The bill is a very different
animal. Even if it [were to eventually] pass, getting it
conferenced with the completed and different House bill would be a
huge challenge. But there's always next year."
Alan Davidson, Washington counsel for Google, said during the
call that the House vote should be taken as "a wake-up call" by the
public and businesses about how the Internet could be regulated in
the future. "As more consumers and small businesses learn about
this, I think we'll see more concern," he said.
Jeannine Kenney, senior policy analyst for Yonkers, N.Y.-based
Consumers Union, said that the "grass-roots campaign is only
gaining steam" and that the telecommunications and cable companies
still have a fight on their hands.
"I think that in the Senate there is a better understanding of
the idea of net neutrality," although many members are still on the
fence on the issue, she said.
The Senate version of the telecom bill is still in draft form
but a new draft is expected soon, Sohn said.
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