Welcome Mat Out for Network Neutrality Advocates

WELCOME MAT OUT FOR NET NEUTRALITY ADVOCATES
[SOURCE: The Politico, AUTHOR: Daniel Reilly]
With the new Congress, the political landscape is shifting for telecom advocates. Democrats generally favor net neutrality. To do otherwise, they maintain, would create a two-tiered pricing scheme that would make Internet access more expensive for ordinary consumers. Companies such as AT&T spent more than $12 million in campaign donations over the last four years trying to get an anti-net neutrality law passed in a more industry-friendly Republican-led Congress. Now, they are considering defensive strategies to block pro-net neutrality measures. the telecom firms are still adjusting to the new congressional landscape, and it remains to be seen whether they will continue their all-out ad blitz. Last summer, at the peak of the net neutrality debate, the telecom firms were spending up to $1 million a week on television and print ads to campaign against net neutrality. The telecoms must also contend with others in the net neutrality fight such as Google and Yahoo, which are all flexing their newfound lobbying muscle for net neutrality. Overall, chances appear slim for a wholesale revision of the nation's telecommunications law. The telecoms will continue to spend millions to try to kill net neutrality, while the Baby Bells will continue to enter the cable television market on a state-by-state basis. Still, net neutrality advocates say this might be their year for success. Until those issues are resolved, the entire slate of telecommunications issues, including financing the transition to digital TV, regulation of wireless telephone providers and spectrum allocation, will probably move to the back burner.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0107/2462.html