Congress Must Be Pressured to Preserve Internet Neutrality From Mercury News, June 14, 2006
The proposition that the Internet should remain an open, decentralized network where all users and Web sites are treated equally suffered a blow last week when the House of Representatives defeated an "Internet neutrality" amendment that was part of a larger bill to reform telecommunications laws.
And on Tuesday, Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who is crafting companion legislation, said Internet neutrality isn't likely to be part of his bill, either.
But this battle is too important to give up. Without Internet- neutrality rules, the telephone and cable companies that control Internet access are sure to go ahead with a plan to divide the Internet into a two-tiered network. Companies that pay them a toll will see their content and services cruise at high speeds. Everyone else will be stuck in a slow lane. Worse, cable and phone companies would have the freedom to decide who gets quick access and who doesn't. As a result, consumer choice and innovation will suffer.
Senators who support Net neutrality -- most Democrats and a few Republicans -- must threaten to derail the entire telecom bill unless it preserves openness and choice on the Internet.
A campaign launched by consumer groups and major Internet companies including eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo should help. It included a letter from eBay CEO Meg Whitman urging the millions of buyers and sellers who use the Internet auction site to show their support for Internet neutrality. As a result, tens of thousands of letters from eBay users are expected to be delivered to senators before next Tuesday's committee vote on the Stevens bill. Google, too, has used its Web site to urge users to contact members of Congress.
The telecom and cable companies want lawmakers to believe Internet neutrality would amount to burdensome new regulations. But Internet neutrality isn't new. It was the law until late last year, when a U.S. Supreme Court decision and a vote by the Federal Communications Commission changed things. One of the best arguments for it is that Internet neutrality has worked.
The neutrality rules have allowed innovators to create content and services without worrying that they would be squeezed out by cable or phone companies who didn't like what they were doing. Absent Internet neutrality, phone companies would not have allowed the Internet telephone industry to blossom. Without it, cable companies won't let the burgeoning Internet-video industry come into its own. And industries ranging from health care to finance, retailing to education, will face huge new tolls to guarantee access to the Net's high-speed lanes.
If you want the Internet to remain a force for innovation and free speech, urge our senators not to sell off cyberspace to special interests. You can add your voice to the growing chorus of Internet neutrality supporters at