Markey Revives Net Neutrality Debate

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., revived the net neutrality debate on Wednesday when he introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act.

The bill appeared the day after Comcast Corp. filed comments with the FCC defending its need to manage its network however it chooses. Comcast faces criticism for apparently slowing P2P content such as that from Vuze, which uses the BitTorrent network to distribute movie-studio, TV and game content. Vuze filed a complaint last November with the FCC. Vuze and other open-Internet advocates fear that providers such as Comcast and AT&T Inc. will slow or block content they don’t want on their networks if Congress doesn’t prevent them from doing so. But several lobby-intensive groups consider those nefarious attempts to regulate the free market.

Markey chairs the House Subcommittee on Telecommunication and the Internet. He said he wants to keep the Internet open for “future innovators,” such as the next Google Inc. or Yahoo!. To that end, he proposed adding four new policy statements to the FCC’s current broadband guidelines, although he stopped short of including enforcement clauses or penalties.

“The goal of this bipartisan legislation is to assure consumers, content providers, and high tech innovators that the historic, open architecture nature of the Internet will be preserved and fostered,” Markey said in a prepared statement. Markey has supported net neutrality since 2006, just a few months after then-SBC CEO Ed Whitacre ignited the debate with his comments to BusinessWeek. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., co-sponsored Markey’s bill.

Markey said it’s important that the United States maintain its standing as a high-tech leader, and that net neutrality oversight will help ensure that.

"The global leadership in high technology the United States provides stems directly from historic policies that have ensured that telecommunications networks are open to all lawful uses and to all users,” he said.

Plus, he said, broadband fulfills First Amendment rights, so “it is important that the United States adopt a policy endorsing the open nature of broadband networks.”

But some powerhouse associations and interest groups disagreed with Markey, namely USTelecom, CTIA-The Wireless Association, Hands Off the Internet and an antigovernment-waste council.

The legislation would be “antithetical” to Congressional goals of improving the environment, personal security, education, and health care, particularly in rural areas, said Walter McCormick, president and CEO USTelecom, which represents large carriers and suppliers.