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Waxman's Net-Neutrality Draft Legislation Leaked
A draft copy of the net-neutrality proposal under development by California Congressman Henry Waxman, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, was leaked by the Washington D.C. newspaper, the Hill, amidst varying levels of support from both Democrats and Republicans.
The draft bill, which would have authority until December 31, 2012 and then be subject to re-examination and renewal by Congress, contains three main areas of interest. Firstly, the draft proposal contains similarities with the previous rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the legislative framework jointly released by Google and Verizon Communications in regards to: wireless broadband; the “open Internet”; and enforcement procedures. Secondly, in regards to whether open-Internet rules ought to apply to wireless broadband access, the draft legislation proposes to apply only a limited subset of the rules to wireless providers (this is contrary to the FCC’s proposal where net neutrality rules would apply equally to both wired and wireless Internet access and the Google-Verizon framework, which proposed to exclude wireless from the rules). Lastly, the draft legislation includes an explicit prohibition on the FCC being allowed to extend its authority by moving forward with any activities that would “impose regulations on broadband Internet access service” under Title II of the Communication Act.
Disagreement over the draft bill exists among members of Waxman’s committee, some Republicans, broadband providers, content facilitators like Google and Skype, and public interest groups involved in the negotiations.
For additional information, visit:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20017818-94.html