IP Democracy: Net Neutrality Amendment Defeated on House Floor

The net neutrality amendment introduced by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) was tonight soundly defeated in the House vote on the Barton telecom reform bill. Despite signs that public opinion and press sentiment were rapidly shifting in favor of net neutrality regulations, the House voted down the amendment 152 to 269, handing the cable and telco lobbies a big victory.

In a wistful-sounding statement, Rep. Markey said

The Internet community is now aroused, and as the telephone and cable companies continue to use their political clout to turn the Internet from a democratic Field of Dreams to an exclusive set of Gated Communities, the looming danger to the Internet is becoming more obvious to everyone. I will continue to fight for an open and non-discriminatory Internet because the future of our country depends on it, literally, in that the jobs of tomorrow will depend on every inventor, innovator and dreamer finding an on-ramp onto the Internet superhighway.

Gigi Sohn, President Public Knowledge, which worked hard to get a net neutrality amendment passed, said in a statement

It is a shame that the House turned its back on the open essence of the Internet. Instead, the House ignored the arguments of consumers, technology companies and interest groups from across the political spectrum and voted to allow the telephone and cable companies to discriminate by controlling the content that will flow over the network and to assess whatever additional fees the telephone and cable companies want to charge on top of normal access rates.

Needless to say, broadband providers were overjoyed. In a statement, NCTA CEO Kyle McSlarrow said

By rejecting network neutrality regulation, the House has clearly stated a preference for telecom reform that allows the marketplace and not the government to pick winners and losers. And consumers will reap the benefits. We continue to believe that government should further study the emerging broadband marketplace before injecting itself into a thriving, dynamic market where investment and innovation are flourishing.

Herschel Abbott, head of government affairs for BellSouth, said in a statement

Given the amount of debate over so called ‘net neutrality’ during consideration of this bill, let me again assure consumers that BellSouth will not block or degrade access to any legal content on the internet. Net neutrality is a phony issue and it ought to be laid to rest by today’s vote.

Legislation now moves to the Senate, which is decidedly less persuaded by public opinion. The current Senate companion to the Barton bill contains no provisions at all regarding net neutrality, although Senate Commerce Committee co-Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) recently indicated a willingness to include some form of net neutrality requirement in his committee’s bill.

Update: The “net neutrality” amendment introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) was approved. This amendment, largely viewed as a device to undercut the Markey amendment, preserves the authority of antitrust agencies to step in on net neutrality matters.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on June 8, 2006 11:14 PM to IP Democracy