Net Neutrality Bill
After falling out of the public eye, Net Neutrality is once again back in center stage with a new bill surfacing in Congress. The new bill, dubbed the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008,” adds a “Broadband Policy” section to the Communications Act. It will require the FCC to look into current policies and ensure that the ISPs aren’t blocking or delaying traffic to any websites unreasonably. The bill will also require the FCC to hold at least eight public “broadband summits” to “assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues related to broadband Internet access services.”
All in all the bill does not actually do anything to write Net Neutrality into law; it simply requires the FCC to do more to keep the net neutral. To me this seems like a small step in the right direction, but it still leaves opportunity for ISPs and telecoms to continue using their money to influence the powers that be and reverse the neutral status of the internet.
To find out more about Net Neutrality and why it is so important, checkout my most recent posting on the Summersault Weblog.
