Snowe, Senate Democrats Offer Net Neutrality Bill

NET NEUTRALITY FIELD IN CONGRESS GETS CROWED
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Anne Broache]
On Friday Sen Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Barack Obama (D-IL) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act." The nine-page measure contains a detailed list of obligations for all broadband service providers. Specifically, they would generally not be allowed to "block, interfere with, discriminate against, impair or degrade" access to content or to prevent users from attaching devices of their choosing to the network. Network operators would also be barred from making special deals with content providers to ensure speedier delivery or improved quality of service and would be required to offer all Internet material on an "equivalent" basis. The new bill does outline carve-outs from the rules for network management activities related to security and other consumer protection services. Also buried in the proposal is a requirement that providers offer their customers the option of standalone, or "naked" broadband services without an obligation to subscribe to cable television, telephone or Internet phone. It would be up to the Federal Communications Commission to enforce complaints and to furnish Congress with a report on the state of the broadband market and competition.
http://news.com.com/Net+neutrality+field+in+Congress+gets+crowded/2100-1...

* See Snowe/Dorgan press release: http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=255904

* Internet bills butting heads
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/20/BUG56IV8DA1....

* Inouye Offers Senate Net-Neutrality Bill
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6336409.html?display=Breaking+News

* Snowe and Senate Dems to the Rescue on Net Neutrality
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/30006

* Consumer Groups Praise Snowe-Dorgan Internet Freedom Preservation Bill
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=136