Net Neutrality Up For Vote; Follow The Money
Friday, June 9th, 2006Today or Friday, the House of Representatives will be debating and voting on proposed Net Neutrality amendments to the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006, a bill that will grant sweeping powers to telecommunications and cable companies to set up a tollbooth Internet.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who chairs the Committee on Energy and Commerce, has pushed to pass the bill as-is, without any type of legislative guarantee to bar telco and cable giants from charging fees to the highest bidder for faster delivery of content. Rep. Barton has repeatedly tried to block Net Neutrality legislation and has vowed to continue to do so, arguing from the pockets of his contributors.
Net Neutrality advocates charge this policy would be discriminatory, effectively blocking small businesses and individual content providers from providing services on the same level as large corporations. In addition, the COPE Act sets up a situation where network operators would be able to block, restrict, or slow consumer access to unapproved sites.
