The National Journal’s Drew Clark got an exclusive interview last night with Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) the sponsor of the COPE Act, the telecom reform bill passed by a wide margin last night. The big drama surrounding the bill’s passage was whether a net neutrality amendment sponsored by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) would pass, but it was soundly defeated.
In his interview with Barton, Drew asked the Congressman whether Barton is afraid of what he just enabled — namely that broadband providers now feel more comfortable creating multiple tiers of Internet service based on the fees content providers pay to access their networks.
CLARK: Are you at all afraid that without neutrality rules, we are letting the genie out of the bottle and creating a second-tier Internet?
BARTON: That is a bogus argument. You will not see a second-tier Internet. These companies are going to spend billions of dollars and offer new choices in markets where there is one cable company.
Clearly Barton is planning on big telco competition to keep the broadband providers honest. In other words, a cable company won’t dare charge special access fees for, say, Google, if its rival telco is in the market.
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:38 AM|Comments(0)
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