Net Neutrality

[FRED]

Republicans defeat Net neutrality proposal

By Declan McCullagh (declan.mccullagh@cnet.com?subject=FEEDBACK:Republ icans%20defeat%20Net%20neutrality%20proposal) and Anne Broache (anne.broache@cnet.com?subject=FEEDBACK:Republican s%20defeat%20Net%20neutrality%20proposal)
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 5, 2006

A partisan divide pitting Republicans against Democrats on the question of Internet regulation appears to be deepening.

A Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday defeated a proposal that would have levied extensive regulations on broadband providers and forcibly prevented them from offering higher-speed video services to partners or affiliates.
By an 8-to-23 margin, the committee members rejected a Democratic-backed "Net neutrality" amendment to a current piece of telecommunications legislation. The amendment had attracted support from companies including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and their chief executives wrote a last-minute letter to the committee on Wednesday saying such a change to the legislation was "critical."


Before the vote, amendment sponsor Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, assailed his Republican colleagues. "We're about to break with the entire history of the Internet," Markey said. "Everyone should understand that."

A Guide to Net Neutrality (http://www.google.com/help/netneutrality.html)

[metalman]

now one of the most popular videos on google video, the 36 min. "Controlled Demolitions of September 11" video. no wonder these guys want to control the internet.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3249714675910247150&hl=en

[Jim Nickerson]

Republicans defeat Net neutrality proposal

By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 5, 2006

A partisan divide pitting Republicans against Democrats on the question of Internet regulation appears to be deepening.

A Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday defeated a proposal that would have levied extensive regulations on broadband providers and forcibly prevented them from offering higher-speed video services to partners or affiliates.
By an 8-to-23 margin, the committee members rejected a Democratic-backed "Net neutrality" amendment to a current piece of telecommunications legislation. The amendment had attracted support from companies including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and their chief executives wrote a last-minute letter to the committee on Wednesday saying such a change to the legislation was "critical."


Before the vote, amendment sponsor Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, assailed his Republican colleagues. "We're about to break with the entire history of the Internet," Markey said. "Everyone should understand that."

A Guide to Net Neutrality (http://www.google.com/help/netneutrality.html)

So if the principle of net neutrality is to be weakened or stricken by the action of a Republican dominated committee vote, in whose interest is this? i.e, what companies stand to benefit?

[jk]

So if the principle of net neutrality is to be weakened or stricken by the action of a Republican dominated committee vote, in whose interest is this? i.e, what companies stand to benefit?

the beneficiaries are the companies that own the internet backbone and the last mile - copper or fiber optics, which is to say the phone companies and the cable companies. without net neutrality they will be able to collect revenue from google, ebay, yahoo, etc, as well as content providers- cbs, nbc, the ny times, cnn, washington post, etc, especially those that want high bandwidth for music, videos, movies, etc. i don't mind att&t shaking down google, but the secondary effect will be second class service from sites that can't/won't pay for faster delivery. for example, your itulip threads might load a little slower, especially if there are charts or graphics. not the end of the world. some videos, though, might not load at all.

[Corporate Plebe]

Does net neutrality not touch all these aspects of the First Amendment?

1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Telecom companies have already participated in policies related to the 5th, and this matter has been adjucated by a Federal Judge

5th Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This one seems relevent, too.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.