   Congress to Telcos: Suck it
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2541Quote:US Government Committee Approves Net Neutrality BillToday, the House Committee approved by majority vote a bill that will uphold net neutrality. The bill will prevent telcos and ISPs from creating tiered networks. Members of the house committee argue that many citizens in the US are located in areas where there are few choices in broadband providers. In circumstances like this, the net neutrality law will prevent the local telco or cable provider from engaging in anti-competitive practices that are usually associated with monopolistic organizations. I guess the US Congress ISN'T full of a bunch of senile money-loving luddites, after all.   
  Thank you possible omnipotent being(s)!I despise the fact that the US can so directly affect Canada in this fashion, though I am happy with the outcome.   ;  I'm especially glad it didn't get any riders grafted onto it.However, my eternal cynicism is rewarded:Quote:Interestingly, the members of the committee that supported the bill said that they voted for the bill because existing competition to another bill that was already approved by a different committee. The decision to support the current bill they said, had nothing to do with actual concerns on the future of the Internet and what net neutrality is all about.*sigh*   ;Quote:Original post by RavuyaI'm especially glad it didn't get any riders grafted onto it.However, my eternal cynicism is rewarded:Quote:Interestingly, the members of the committee that supported the bill said that they voted for the bill because existing competition to another bill that was already approved by a different committee. The decision to support the current bill they said, had nothing to do with actual concerns on the future of the Internet and what net neutrality is all about.*sigh*what existing competition are they talking about? what bill? if this had nothing to do with net neutrality then what the heck were they voting on? Might as well be braindead.   ;Quote:Original post by OpenGL_Guruwhat existing competition are they talking about? what bill? if this had nothing to do with net neutrality then what the heck were they voting on? Might as well be braindead.Their "competition" as far as I can see from TFA is another special group within Congress that is trying to compete for oversight of the net neutrality issue.Politics: It makes the world go round. The drain.   ;  Well I live out in the middle of nowhere and I'm thankful for the measure regardless of motivation. I was having to pay $60 a month for my cable connection until another cable company found its way out here. Now all of a sudden I've been blessed with $17 price break. So if this bill helps anybody like myself just a few months ago, its definitely a good thing.   ;Quote:Original post by RavuyaTheir "competition" as far as I can see from TFA is another special group within Congress that is trying to compete for oversight of the net neutrality issue.It appears to partly be an argument between the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Energy and Commerce Committee. Ars Technica has some more information - personally I find the whole issue confusing.Quote:The fate of the bill is not clear, as there are now two competing bills vying for the attention of the House floor. HR 5252, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act, was overseen by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is expected to be considered by full House. That bill is seen by some proponents of 'Net neutrality as being too weak, particularly after a Committee vote tossed aside an amendment put forth by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) that would have enshrined the principle of network neutrality into US law. There is speculation that today's bill, HR 5417, could be proposed as an amendment to HR 5252.To make matters more confusing, the vote in the House Committee on the Judiciary may have also been affected by a contest between that committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee over just who has the authority to address this matter.  The latter committee would prefer to see the FCC investigate allegations of abuse, but there are concerns that Energy and Commerce Committee could effectively assert control over potential FCC investigations by acting as a gatekeeper, thereby reducing the role of the Judiciary Committee members on a matter that some see primarily in antitrust terms.;  Don't rejoice until the bill passes both houses of Congress and gets signed by the President. Making it out of one committee is just a step along the way. There are plenty of opportunities for the bill to morph into it's exact opposite as it winds it's way through Congress.   