Hi everybody in the NCUC,

though we are, as an ICANN body, oriented internationally, I think this US 
debate is still worth while to e observed by us also carefully, as it is a 
debate between limiting business interest and principled equality for all.


Norbert


----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/Net-Neutrality-Faces-House-Vote/

Net Neutrality Faces House Vote
By Roy Mark. 2009-01-28

A small portion of the emergency $825 billion stimulus package scheduled 
for a Jan. 28 U.S. House vote could hold big consequences for network 
neutrality advocates. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's $6 
billion in grants and loans to build out wireless networks comes 
attached with network neutrality and open access strings. Telecom and 
cable giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are likely to try to 
eventually undo the network neutrality and open access mandates.

*The U.S. House is scheduled to vote Jan. 28 on an $825 billion stimulus 
package attaching network neutrality and open access strings for $6 
billion in grants and loans to build out broadband networks in unserved 
and underserved areas of the country.* If—as widely expected—the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment passes the House, it will represent 
the first successful congressional action on network neutrality. *The 
House legislation requires the winners of the funding to allow any legal 
device to be connected to the new networks, and network operators are 
prohibited from discriminating in the handling of network traffic. The 
mandates do not apply to existing networks.
*
While the Senate is still in the process of drafting its recovery 
package, *the Senate approved Jan. 27 an Appropriations Committee 
package that requires "non-discrimination and network interconnection 
obligations" for the $9 billion allocated for new broadband networks.*

*"For those of us who waited for a new day to advance the cause of 
preserving a free, open and non-discriminatory Internet, the language in 
the House stimulus package is a great first step toward reclaiming the 
Internet and establishing once and for all the concept that carriers 
can't discriminate," Art Brodsky, communications director of Public 
Knowledge, wrote on the PK blog *Jan. 27. Brodsky, a veteran of 
Washington's telecom policy debates, warns, though, that it is still a 
long road to seeing network neutrality and open access become part of 
law, even if it's applied only to networks built under the bill.

"The most dangerous part of this game has yet to occur. The House will 
pass its bill. The Senate will pass its bill. How the two will reconcile 
their differences is not yet known," Brodsky wrote. "A traditional 
conference committee is unlikely given the time constraints. The 
telephone companies and Chamber of Commerce have started complaining 
about the conditions, even though they haven't mounted a public challenge."

Public or not, telephone and cable giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast 
are adamantly opposed to congressionally imposed network neutrality and 
open access requirements, objecting to the idea of government control 
over their network management practices. Under Republican control and 
the Bush administration, telecoms and cable companies successfully 
blocked any congressional action on the issues.

"The best opportunity to strip out the progressive elements of the 
telecom provisions will be in the reconciliation process, much of which 
will take place behind closed doors," Brodsky noted. "At this point, 
it's not certain who will be at the table, particularly if there isn't a 
formal conference committee. It will be up to the champions of open 
networks to make sure those provisions stay in." In the House, a network 
neutrality amendment to a telco reform bill failed in 2006. The Senate 
has never had a floor vote on network neutrality, but the Senate 
Commerce Committee voted against a network neutrality amendment to the 
2006 telco reform bill. Since then, the network neutrality debate has 
centered around the Federal Communications Commission's legal status and 
ability to enforce the agency's Internet principles. In August 2005, the 
FCC declared that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet 
content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice, 
and plug in and run legal devices of their choice. The FCC also said 
consumers have a right to competition among network providers, 
application and service providers, and content providers.

The FCC declared Aug. 1 that Comcast was violating the agency's Internet 
policy when it blocked peer-to-peer traffic by BitTorrent. The agency 
also found that Comcast misled consumers when it did not properly 
disclose its P2P policy. While Comcast was not fined for the network 
neutrality violation, the FCC ordered Comcast to cease the practice and 
to keep the public informed of its future network management plans. 
Comcast complied with the order but also went to court to challenge the 
FCC's authority to enforce the principles.


-- 
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This is the latest weekly editorial:

Censorship: Thousands of Crude Porn Sites Accessible on Internet - One Khmer 
Artist Blocked
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/censorship-thousands-of-crude-porn-sites-accessible-on-internet-%E2%80%93-one-khmer-artist-blocked-sunday-122009/
(To read it, click on the line above.)

And here is something new every day:
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com (English)
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