'Net Neutrality' Fight Moves to States

'NET NEUTRALITY' FIGHT MOVES TO STATES
[SOURCE: Heartland Institute, AUTHOR: Kristina Rasmussen]
The fight over "network neutrality" regulations has mainly been a matter for national legislators, but the debate over how Internet broadband is managed could soon be coming to a state capitol near you. A failed amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives and the wariness of Senate Telecom Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) suggest an uncertain prognosis for federal action on net neutrality before the end of the year. As a result, many activists are taking their case to friendly state lawmakers during the 2007 legislative cycle, in hopes of finding allies willing to transform the concept into state law. Two influential state officials jumped into the net neutrality fray in late June. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee urging them to adopt net neutrality regulations and enforcement mechanisms, stating, "state Attorneys General and private parties should also be authorized to bring civil actions in any U.S. District Court to enforce these provisions." California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) has also expressed support for net neutrality principles.
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19415