With the election over Congress is moving quickly on the net neutrality
issue, and is planning to introduce a bill in January.
Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democratic senator, and Olympia Snowe, a
Republican senator from Maine, have announced plans to introduce the
Internet
Freedom Preservation Act, which will make it illegal for ISPs to
discriminate against content online.
"Some broadband providers have discussed plans to start acting like
gatekeepers on the world wide web, deciding which content can get through to
consumers and which content providers could get special deals, faster speeds and
better access to the consumer," said Dorgan.
"This [new] legislation would ensure that broadband service providers do not
discriminate against internet content, applications or services by offering
preferential treatment. This issue is also often referred to as 'net
neutrality'."
President-elect
Barack Obama has already said that he strongly supports the issue of net
neutrality, and the bill will be an early test of the new Democratic Party
majority's ability to set the legislative agenda.
Meanwhile, telecoms companies are likely to mobilise over an issue that they
see as crucial to their ability to increase revenues from customers and manage
their networks.
Comcast is currently
suing
the Federal Communications Commission over its decision to censure the
company for
throttling
bandwidth without informing its customers.
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