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Net Neutrality Takes Center Stage in Broadband Stimulus Package
By: Roy Mark
2009-01-23
Article Rating:    / 7
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House Democrats are signaling support for network neutrality as the Energy and Commerce Committee attaches network neutrality and open access mandates to almost $3 billion in grants and loans for network build-outs to unserved and underserved areas of the country.Democrats sent a strong signal Jan. 22 that
network neutrality would play a starring role in the $6 billion broadband piece
of the U.S. House's overall $825 billion economic stimulus package. In
approving $2.9 billion for network build-outs in rural and underserved areas,
the House Committee on Energy and Commerce insisted that network neutrality and
open network mandates be attached to the funding.
"These are public dollars. Networks built with this funding should be
open," Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said. The mandates require the winners
of the funding to allow any legal device to be connected to the new networks,
and network operators are prohibited from discriminating in the handling of network
traffic.
In a business meeting that extended late into the night, the House panel
approved a grants program to be operated by the NTIA (National
Telecommunications and Information Administration) that calls for 25 percent of
the $2.9 billion to be spent on areas of the country with no broadband access
with the remaining 75 percent poured into "underserved" areas.
The other half of the $6 billion dedicated to broadband build-out in the House
stimulus package calls for $2.9 billion in grants and loans to administered by
the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program
is not under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, but it
is expected that the same network neutrality and open network mandates will be
attached to the funding.
The overall stimulus bill may reach the floor of the House the week of Jan. 26.
The Senate's version is currently being drafted.
The mandates represent a major shift in the policy battle over network
neutrality. Under Republican control and the Bush administration, efforts to
pass network neutrality laws faced opposition from telecommunications and cable
companies, which adamantly objected to the idea of government control over
their network management practices.
In the House, a network neutrality amendment to a telco reform bill failed in
2006. The Senate has never had a floor vote on network neutrality, but the
Senate Commerce Committee voted against a network neutrality amendment to the
2006 telco reform bill.
Since then, the network neutrality debate has centered around the FCC's legal
status and ability to enforce the agency's Internet principles. In August 2005,
the FCC declared that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet
content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice, and
plug in and run legal devices of their choice. The FCC also said consumers have
a right to competition among network providers, application and service
providers, and content providers.
The FCC
declared Aug. 1 that Comcast was violating the agency's Internet policy
when it blocked peer-to-peer traffic by BitTorrent. The agency also found that
Comcast misled consumers when it did not properly disclose its P2P policy. While Comcast was
not fined for the network neutrality violation, the FCC ordered Comcast to
cease the practice and to keep the public informed of its future network
management plans. Comcast complied with the order but also went to court to
challenge the FCC's authority to enforce the principles.
The FCC
is now investigating concerns that Comcast's new network management practices
degrade the sound quality of VOIP (voice over IP) services such as Vonage
and Skype that compete with Comcast's own VOIP service.
The Jan. 22 Committee on Energy and Commerce vote to introduce network
neutrality into the legislative mix cheered public advocacy groups.
"We are very pleased that the House Appropriations Committee ... and the
House Energy and Commerce Committee ... recognized the need for an open and nondiscriminatory
Internet," Public Knowledge's Gigi Sohn said in a
statement. "Both committees approved draft economic stimulus
legislation leaving intact provisions that recipients of stimulus grant funds
be required to follow build-out requirements, Federal Communications
Commission's net neutrality guidelines and open-access requirements."
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