Rep. Edward Markey (D.-Mass.) finally introduced his long-awaited Net neutrality bill late yesterday. Called the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, the bill would encourage Internet service providers to move network traffic along without making prioritization decisions based on traffic type or traffic sources. While it does not give the FCC the teeth to enforce these provisions, it does require the FCC to conduct an annual review of service providers' network management practices. Last year, the FCC classified wireless data services as broadband services.
"This bill is an attempt to cure a problem that simply does not exist," CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent said in a statement. "Overwhelming evidence collected by the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and independent research analysts proves that wireless broadband adoption is spreading like wildfire across this country. This wouldn't be happening if consumers weren't getting the service, value, and access to content they desire... we believe a thoughtful and balanced examination will lead to what we already know--government intervention is not necessary."
VoIP service provider Skype had a different opinion. "Chairman Markey's bill is the right approach to preserving an Open Internet at the right time," said Christopher Libertelli, Skype's Senior Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs. "Since the Senate took up this issue last year, the public has seen a number of examples of the need to put in place safeguards for Skype users so they can free up their conversations and have them anywhere, at any time."
- see what Skype's Libertelli has to say about 700 MHz [1]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/hot-seat-skypes-christopher-libertelli/2008-02-01