New Net neutrality bill frowns on ISP 'favoritism'
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Rep. Edward Markey's latest proposal aims to "enshrine" antidiscrimination principles in federal communications law but does not prescribe outright rules or penalties this time around.
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Legislation designed to prevent  broadband Internet providers from unreasonable interference  with subscribers' access to content was introduced on Wednesday  by a senior U.S. lawmaker.
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RESTON, Va., Sept. 14  /PRNewswire/ -- Debate over whether to regulate Internet Service Providers has raged during consideration of so-called "net neutrality" (NN) legislation now pending in Congress.
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(InfoWorld) - Asian regulators should think twice about followingÂ the U.S. lead on net neutrality, or risk undermining the economic incentive for Asian carriers to build and maintain faster networks, according to speakers at the CommunicAsia Summit in Singapore. Regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore show signs of enshrining a policy of net neutrality for future networks, and that's not necessarily a positive development, said Peter Waters, a partner at law firm Gilbert+Tobin. Net neutrality is a term for policies that prevent carriers from giving preference on their networks to traffic from their own sites, or charging Web sites extra for preferential treatment. "We need to back off a bit," Waters said. Regulators should wait until a problem arises before stepping in to set new policies, he said. Waters and others speaking at CommunicAsia argued that carriers must be able to collect revenue for the different types of content that crosses their networks. Asia Netcom, which operates a backhaul network in Asia, claimed the right to charge content providers for the data carried on its network, particularly when that data is valuable. For example, Google and others use Asia Netcom's network to transmit advertisements and other content that have significant value. "Why do I keep providing that [service] for free?" said Mark Simpson, the company's chief operating officer. Waters proposed a revenue-sharing model, where backhaul carriers receive a portion of the revenue from content providers for the data carried on their networks. Net neutrality is a contentious issue and is generallyÂ opposed by carriers, who argue it reduces the incentive to build new networks. However, in March, researchers at the University of Florida conducted a study using game theory analysis that found the opposite to be true. Allowing carriers to charge content providers for the data they carry provides less incentive for the carriers to expand and improve their networks, they found. "The incentive for the broadband service provider to expand under net neutrality is unambiguously higher than when the principle of net neutrality is abandoned," the researchers wrote in the conclusion of their report. Â
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Citizens have until Friday to sway government regulators on net neutrality, the principle that ISPs should treat all packets of internet data equally.
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Justice Department sides with AT&amp;T, Verizon The US Department of Justice is badmouthing net neutrality.â¦
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As proposed legislation adding safeguards to electronic voting languishes, criticism of the bill is mounting among legislators and experts.
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An open letter to the Senate Commerce Committee by a group of religious and ethical organizations, praising a communications bill and opposing net neutrality, only further spotlights how sharply this issue has divided even the closest of allies, and the degree to which modern technology politics yields the strangest of bedfellows.
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Two key sponsors of legislation that would effectively codify the meaning of "net neutrality" asked the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee to hold public hearings into the motivations of Comcast and other broadband service providers in filtering certain categories of traffic.
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(InfoWorld) - Several lawmakers protested a spectrum auction proposal from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying his plan could limit the number of bidders and raise costs to consumers. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's plan would require winners of part of theÂ 700MHz band of spectrum, to be auctioned by early next year, to accept any wireless devices, including phone handsets, allowing customers to transfer devices between mobile providers. Martin's plan would also include net neutrality-like rules, prohibiting auction winners from blocking or slowing Web content from other providers. But several members of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, many of them Republicans, questioned Martin's proposed rules, which have support of the majority of the FCC. Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, said he was "very disappointed" that fellow Republican Martin was proposing regulations for part of the 60MHz of spectrum to be auctioned. Some proposals byÂ consumer groups and Frontline WirelessÂ would also require auction winners to provide wholesale access to competitors, and Barton praised Martin for not including that provision. "It's not quite as bad as the Frontline plan, but I don't think it's as good as absolute no-condition auction," Barton said. Many Republicans suggested that auction conditions would decrease the value of the spectrum. Congress has budgeted the auction to raise $10 billion with about half of that going toward reducing the U.S. government budget deficit. "Congress has already spent that money," said Representative Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat. Questions about Martin's proposal came from a handful of Democrats. Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked FCC commissioners whether the device-portability rules would increase the cost of wireless phone plans. Customers want to be able to take their mobile phones with them when they switch carriers, but carriers generally haven't offered that option, Martin said. "I think the benefits outweigh the costs and concerns," he said. Barton suggested that winning bidders could implement the device-portability and net neutrality proposals without FCC mandate. Google has indicatedÂ it could bid billions of dollars, Barton noted. "Why shouldn't we just let Google bid?" Barton said. "If they've got a better idea, why don't they go into the marketplace and bid their four or five billion dollars?" There's customer demand for device portability, but carriers haven't acted on it, Martin said. Wireless carriers didn't offer phone number portability until the FCC forced them to in late 2003, then millions of U.S. residents took advantage of it, he said. Asked whether they supported Martin's proposals, the FCC's two Democrats said they did, while the two other Republicans said they hadn't made their minds up yet. "Please let me keep my phone and let me take it wherever I want," said subcommittee chairman Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. The so-called open-access rules are necessary for new broadband competition to challenge cable and telecom providers, said FCC commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat. The 700MHz auction is the last major spectrum auction on the horizon, many participants said. "This is one proceeding where we cannot fail," Copps said. Some lawmakers suggested Martin's proposal doesn't go far enough. Representative Charles "Chip" Pickering, a Mississippi Republican, called on the FCC to require wholesale access rules as well. Wholesale access would allow new and innovative services to flourish on the networks using the spectrum, he said. Martin's plan would "enhance markets and competition," he added.
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In a victory for Verizon Communications, a law will make it harder for cities to build Internet networks that compete with major telecommunications providers.
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Blog: Customers are angry over new, large ads in AT&T/Yahoo DSL service
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Hundreds of groups and individual Internet users sounded off to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â on net neutrality in comments filed Monday, the deadline for responding to the agency's inquiry into the proposed regulation.
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The inventor of the World Wide Web, advocates U.S. Congressional protection for net neutrality.
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When you sign up with a high-bandwidth service plan with an ISP, you'd think you'd be able to transfer data at the advertised speeds. That's not always the case.
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The bill requires the F.C.C. to assess whether broadband providers are interfering with consumersâ rights to access, send, receive or offer content, applications and services over networks.
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The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Federal Communications Commission to reject Net neutrality rules, arguing that restrictions could hinder Internet growth.