Released: April 06, 2006

Two-tiered Internet scheme splits Congress

Source: By Caron Carlson, eWEEK.com

Lawmakers squared off on network neutrality [net neutrality] on April 5, coming to sharp disagreement over whether the government should take steps to prevent telephone companies from establishing a two-tiered Internet in which large content providers will pay extra for higher-speed delivery.

In a mostly partisan vote, Democrats on the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet lost a bid for rules that would require broadband providers to deliver traffic from like applications at like speeds.

Net neutrality is generally framed in terms of the consumer’s right to access any content with any device, but the controversial debate was ignited when executives of the Bell Operating Companies, AT&T and Verizon, expressed plans last year to charge large content providers a fee for premium delivery.

“I think this walled-garden approach that many network providers would like to create would fundamentally change the way the Internet works,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., adding that she fears the plan will discourage innovation.

Eshoo said, “There is essentially going to be a toll path on what is now an open freeway.”

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