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Six Republican senators have introduced an amendment that would block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing its recently announced Net neutrality policy.
Texas Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced the amendment to an appropriations bill. It would prevent the FCC from getting funding for any initiative to uphold Net neutrality. According to The Hill, the co-sponsors are Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).
The move appears to be an attempt to pre-empt the FCC's expected new policy to ensure that Internet service providers don't discriminate between different types of information on their networks.
On Monday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech in which he outlined the FCC's plan to enforce Net neutrality, a position President Barack Obama held during his campaign for president.
In recent years, concern has grown that some Internet service providers are slowing down "access to high speed Internet for things like Internet-based voice calls, video streaming, and legal file sharing (that carriers might wish to block or at least charge extra for)," writes Ian Paul at PCWorld magazine.
While Net neutrality is supported by Internet-reliant companies such as Google and Microsoft, it is opposed by major Internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. Those three have come out against Genachowski's plan, ChannelWeb reports.
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/gop-senators-net-neutrality/
"In this struggling economy, any industry that is able to thrive should be allowed to do so without meddlesome government interference that could stifle innovation," Ensign said in a statement. "We must avoid burdensome government regulations that micromanage private businesses or that limit the ability of companies to provide what their customers want. The Internet has flourished in large part because of a lack of government interference; I see no need to change that now."
Access to services like Netflix on demand and Hulu stifles Time Warner Cables ability to creatively rape customers with crazy cable TV rates.
Ergo, they should be able to block them and/or throttle down your internet connection when you use them.
I'm sorry, but there is absolutely nothing innovative about making users wait longer to access the same content based on ISP. This is corporate interests speaking through congressional leaders, plain and simple. And im sure before all is said and done there will be plenty on both sides approving of this stupid amendment thanks to corporate dollar signs.
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