Chapel Hill Technology Advisory Committee

[Terri Buckner <tbuckner AT ibiblio.org>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091502257.html?referrer=email
Draft Legislation Aims To Aid Competition In Broadband Services

By Arshad Mohammed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 16, 2005; Page D02

A key House committee released draft legislation yesterday requiring 
broadband providers to allow their subscribers to view any legal online 
content, a policy aimed at keeping big Internet companies from 
restricting access to competitors' Web offerings.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee draft is a victory for advocates 
of "net neutrality" -- the idea that Internet providers have to stand 
aside and allow customers to access any Web pages as long as the content 
is legal. The principle is considered crucial to preserving the open 
nature of the Internet and preventing big broadband providers from 
squeezing out smaller competitors that offer voice, video or other services.
        

Another provision in the proposed law also makes it easier for telephone 
companies to offer television over high-speed lines. It seeks to free 
cable and telephone companies from having to negotiate video franchises 
with numerous local authorities around the country, instead giving the 
Federal Communications Commission more authority over the process.

That would largely benefit the major telephone companies like Verizon 
Communications Inc., SBC Communications Corp. and BellSouth Corp., which 
hope to offer television over fiber-optic lines. Yesterday, officials at 
those companies reacted favorably to the legislation.

Other aspects of the draft legislation are aimed at making sure cable 
and telephone companies get equivalent regulatory treatment as they 
offer broadband Internet access.

The draft is a first salvo from the committee, which is led by Texas 
Republican Joe Barton, in what is likely to be a lengthy battle in 
Congress over any rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.