ArsTechnica summarizes the latest Net Neutrality news:
A vote on one telecommunications bill that seeks to address Net Neutrality is expected later this week, but just what will be voted on is far from clear. Dubbed the Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S.2686), the Senate bill backed by Ted Stevens (R-AK) could be voted on as early as this Thursday, June 22.
The vote would take place in the Commerce Committee’s weekly session, a necessary step before reaching the attention of the full Senate.
Stevens’ bill takes a studied approach to Net Neutrality, literally. The bill’s current form would authorize the FCC to study the issue of Net Neutrality for a period of five years in order to separate reality from the rhetoric, as it were. The FCC would also handle complaints of abuse during that time. But Stevens’ ranking colleague on the Commerce Committee, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), has said that this is too little, and Inouye has offered his own legislation as a tactic to push Stevens into a compromise.
Thus for Stevens, the issue is one of bringing Inouye on board. A loyal Republican, Stevens largely backs the White House’s position on the issue, believing that the FCC itself is already equipped to handle complaints of abuse and that new laws are not truly needed.
Forget Net Neutrality: Just Take The Networks Away From The Telcos, says Mike Masnick of TechDirt. Here’s a list of members of Congress under investigation.
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