Stevens: "Not going to do" common-carrier regulations
The chairman of a U.S. Senate committee debating broadband legislation said Tuesday he would not allow broadband providers to be regulated like large telephone carriers were in the past, despite calls for a law prohibiting broadband providers from blocking or slowing some Internet traffic.
Net neutrality backers want a return to "common carrier" requirements, in which telecommunications carriers were required to give all customers the same service and standard rates, Stevens said during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on a communications reform bill. "We're not going to do that," said the Alaska Republican.
You can read the entire coverage of the hearing on
WASHINGTON - The network neutrality debate resumed today in the U.S. Senate the way it ended in the House of Representatives Thursday night: apparently dead on arrival.
As the Senate Commerce Committee held its third of three hearings on a telecom reform bill, lawmakers seemed content to leave the controversial issue to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
http://CNET News.com: Net neutrality fight returns to Senate Analysis: Leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee are negotiating over how to deal with the controversial concept, while committee members and advocacy groups take turns airing their positions