Net Neutrality

Lawmakers push for net neutrality legislation

Starting next year, net neutrality legislation is likely to become a reality, now that a new Congress will be in place. During a conference held at the University of Nebraska College of Law, the net neutrality legislation was a center piece for discussions.

Frannie Wellings, telecom counsel for Byron Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat who supports the bill introduced in 2007, explained the necessity of putting in place such legislation: there should be no more discrimination against Internet content.

The U.S. Congress is expected to push for the law especially now, under the new Obama administration. President-elect Barack Obama strongly supports net neutrality law, and so do many other Democrats, Wellings said.

The idea of course displeases some representatives in the industry: “The essence of network management is some form of discrimination,” said AT&T senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs James Cicconi. Discrimination is unreasonable when it affects consumers, he said, but FCC should continue to take a case by case approach rather than a common approach, he suggested.

A more restrictive legislation would only lead to more litigation, Cicconi continued, and “the current principles already deal with the unreasonable discrimination.”

One of the most talked about cases is of course that of Comcast appealing FCC’s decision over its right to block network traffic for what they said was good management for the sake of consumers. Comcast argues that since there is no net neutrality rule, FCC can’t enforce it.

The legislation might not exist now, but it certainly looks like the future administration will put it in place as soon as possible.

(Published by eFluxMedia - November 14, 2008)