Network Neutrality: A New Mentality

Following up on my network neutrality essay of early November, I'm delighted to report that as a result of the recent wrap-up of the 109th Congress, Senator Ted Stevens' (Republican, Alaska) HR 5252 Telecommunications Bill has been shelved. HR 5252 was a piece of particularly neutrality-unfriendly legislation, and I'll let you judge for yourself how solid Stevens' grasp of fundamental technology issues is after perusing the following infamous quote, uttered by him in late June:

Ten movies streaming across that, that Internet, and what happens to your own personal Internet? I just the other day got… an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday, I got it yesterday. Why? […] They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Whaaaaa?

Will the 110th Congress, which begins its work next month, be more neutrality-friendly? "Likely" is both my conclusion and the analysis of folks such as Ars Technica and Slashdot. Rep. Ed Markey (Democrat, Massachusetts), who attempted to insert network neutrality verbage in House legislation earlier this year, will be chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. As a rule, Democrats (who gained control of both the House and Senate in last month's elections, after independent party candidates are included….at least for the moment) have tended to be neutrality-friendlier than their Rebublican counterparts; some Republicans, such as Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, are also neutrality advocates.

It's also likely that copyright legislation created by the 110th Congress will be more consumer-friendly than that of the previous legislative branch, specifically with regard to Fair Use provisions (a trend which I feel will greatly benefit consumer electronics companies and their silicon and software suppliers, by loosening restrictions on consumers' use of digital media). Likely, but not guaranteed….for example, Markey and Rep. Rick Boucher (Democrat, Virginia) are counterbalanced by a member of their own party, Rep. Howard Berman (California) whose constituents notably include various Hollywood media rights-owners and who will be a member of a Judiciary subcommittee on Internet issues.

As always, regardless of where you stand on these issues, make your opinions known to your respective House and Senate members. And, if your stance falls on the side of neutrality and fair use, consider supporting (financially and otherwise) groups such as those found on this comprehensive BoingBoing list. If for no other reason than the end of the year is coming soon; need some more tax writeoffs?