House Bill includes USF Measure, ignores Net Neutrality

HOUSE BILL INCLUDES USF MEASURE, IGNORES NET NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: RCR Wireless News, AUTHOR: Heather Forsgren Weaver ]
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a telecom-reform measure late Thursday that includes a plan to make Voice over Internet Protocol providers pay into the universal-service fund. But the House rejected a strict network-neutrality provision. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) tried three times to amend the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 and each time was outmaneuvered by the telephone and cable companies. During the House floor vote, it was an amendment by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) that did Rep Markey in. Rep Smith, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, was allowed to offer an amendment explicitly saying that nothing in the bill precluded lawsuits based on antitrust laws even though a stricter network-neutrality amendment by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was not allowed. The Smith amendment was an attempt to allow members to say they voted for network neutrality even though the amendment did nothing on the issue, charged Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). The ploy apparently worked. The Smith amendment passed by a vote of 353-68. On universal service, the third time was a charm for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) who gained enough support for an amendment that allows the Federal Communications Commission to impose universal service and intercarrier-compensation obligations on Voice over Internet Protocol providers. By including a universal-service provision, the House has a bargaining chip with the Senate, which is expected to include strong universal-service language in its bill.
http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=26570