Net neutrality back on the agenda in the US

A divisive proposal requiring all network operators to abide by strict net neutrality principles resurfaced yesterday in the US Senate.

As expected - albeit perhaps not quite so soon - Maine Republican senator Olympia Snowe and North Dakota Democrat senator Byron Dorgan teamed up again to introduce what appears to be an identical version of their bill, known as the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which died in the Senate last year.

The bill's reintroduction "marks another step toward ensuring the fate of the internet lies in the hands of its users and not the hands of a few gatekeepers", Snowe said in a statement.

Net neutrality is the idea that network operators such as AT&T and Verizon should be prohibited from prioritising any content or services that travel across their pipes - for instance, charging YouTube extra fees for the privilege of being delivered faster than, say, Revver.com.

The Snowe-Dorgan legislation would bar network operators from blocking or degrading access to internet content and services, and from preventing consumers from connecting external devices to the network, with exceptions for security and other consumer protection purposes.

The measure would allow prioritisation of content, applications or services only if it is done for all types of that particular content, application or service - and without a fee. That would be likely to mean, for instance, Verizon could choose to set aside a dedicated pipe for all user-generated video content but it would have to make that pipe available to all user-generated video sites, and for free.

The bill also delves outside net neutrality and proposes all broadband companies must offer customers the option of purchasing standalone broadband service. It would be up to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce any complaints derived from the bill's obligations.

The Senate action comes on the heels of an FCC decision to accept net neutrality conditions offered by AT&T on its merger with BellSouth. AT&T has maintained it offered the concessions primarily to break partisan deadlock over the deal's approval and continues to resist the idea of legislation mandating net neutrality. In contrast to their Democratic colleagues on the FCC, the two voting Republicans, chairman Kevin Martin and commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, also said they had no intention of applying net neutrality conditions more broadly.

The telephone industry, including AT&T and Verizon representatives, was quick to decry the Snowe-Dorgan bill's re-emergence.

Walter McCormick, president of the US Telecom Association, which lobbies for more than 1,200 communications companies said: "Government regulation would make it against the law for any company to invest in customised internet service. That would mean all of us losing advances in home health monitoring, greater security of our financial transactions, new entertainment choices and telecommuting opportunities."

Consumer advocacy groups welcomed the renewed effort, which was co-sponsored by six Democrats and no Republicans aside from Snowe.

Jeannine Kenney, a senior policy analyst with Consumers Union, said: "The legislation is the first step towards a national policy that will ensure that all consumers, not just the most affluent, have affordable access to high-speed internet services."

When the pair of senators introduced the same language as an amendment to a massive communications bill last year, it failed by an 11-11 vote that was mostly along party lines, with Democrats voting in favour. With the majority tipped slightly to the Democratic side this year, the bill's chances could improve but it is not assured victory.

Anne Broache writes for CNET News.com