WASHINGTON, DC – The 109th Congress has reached the close of its much-criticized session and has done so without further action on the bill HR 5252 – a massive telecommunications legislative package currently known as the “Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006.”The bill, which was derided by some critics because it contained no guarantee of “net neutrality,” received a late push from supporters who hoped to get a vote on the measure from the current Congress, a collection of legislators considered less “neutrality-friendly” than the incoming class of representatives and senators.
In the end, despite a massive public relations and advertising campaign supported by major telecommunications companies, supporters of the bill were unable to put the measure to vote before the close of this congressional session and that failure has their opponents declaring victory.
“This is a huge victory for real people and a clear signal to the next Congress that standing up for big bold ideas is a winning political proposition,” said Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, according to SaveTheInternet.com, the website for the Save The Internet Coalition (STIC)
STIC represents a highly diverse set of groups and individuals from all over the political spectrum, including the National Religious Broadcasters, MoveOn.org Civil Action, Gun Owners of America, the American Library Association, the Parents Television Council and the ACLU, just to name a handful of the 850+ groups that make up the Coalition.
In the article posted on its website, STIC members argue that the issue of net neutrality is really very simple.
“Net neutrality is just about fairness and a level playing field,” said Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.com and member of STIC. “It’s that simple.”
Supporters of the HR5252 opposed putting language into the bill relating to internet neutrality, arguing that the bill covered other areas that urgently needed legislative action, and such action shouldn’t have to wait for the net neutrality debate to resolve.
“These consumer benefits [in HR 5252] should not be delayed while we define and debate other issues,” said Tom Tauke, vice president of public affairs, policy and communications for Verizon, when he testified at hearing on the bill in May.
While calling for suspending the debate and passing a telecom bill without settling the net neutrality issue, Tauke also made clear his position in the debate.
“Simply put, net neutrality legislation endangers both the future of video choice and the accelerated broadband investment that is just beginning to gain traction,” Tauke said.
Tauke added that “radical” net neutrality provisions would “chill the investment climate for broadband networks, deter and delay broadband rollout, and lock in today’s internet architecture and levels of performance…. (N)ow is not the time to adopt new regulations that throw sand in the gears of the fast-growing and changing broadband marketplace.”
Although currently jubilant about HR 5252 being shelved until next session (STIC members appear generally to presume that a majority Democrat Congress will be more net-neutrality-friendly) STIC concedes that the fight is far from over.
“The potent combination of grassroots support and the facts stopped a bad bill,” said director of research for the Consumer Federation of America, Mark Cooper, according to the article posted by STIC. “But the fight for net neutrality has only begun.”
“Industry will be back with their money and phony grassroots groups,” added Jeannine Kenney, senior policy analyst at Consumers Union. “But next time around, with a public now well-informed of what’s at stake, we hope Congress will take up broadband policy that advances consumer – not just industry – needs.”
