Passions are sure to be high with the reintroduction of net neutr...

network, without giving preference through commercial deals, and to prevent users from connecting devices to the network only if they “physically damage or substantially degrade the use” of the network by other users. The bill also prohibits providers from selling broadband only with other services, such as phone or cable, from the provider. It sets a 90-day limit for the FCC to handle complaints, and 6 months from enactment for the agency to set up rules governing complaints. A Dorgan spokesman told us the bill is identical to one introduced last Congress. The Internet has succeeded because “the marketplace picked winners and losers, not some central gatekeeper,” Dorgan said: “That freedom -- the very core of what makes the Internet what it is today -- must be preserved.” Snowe’s assessment: “The tide has turned in the debate between those who seek to maintain equality and those who would benefit from the creation of a toll road on the Internet super highway.” She’s the only Republican among cosponsors who include Kerry (Mass.), Boxer (Cal.), Leahy (Vt.), Clinton (N.Y.) and Obama (Ill.). Reactions were predictable from pro- and antineutrality camps. The bill is “a 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,” Consumers Union analyst Jeannine Kenney said. The Snowe-Dorgan effort is the “next step” following AT&T’s consent not only to net- neutrality provisions in its BellSouth merger but to expanded network reach and “competitive prices to consumers -- demonstrating that neutrality and affordable access are not mutually exclusive,” said Consumer Federation of America Research Dir. Mark Cooper. Verizon continues to put quotation marks around “network neutrality” and prefers to call it “net regulation.” The legislation attempts “to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Peter Davidson, senior vp-federal govt. relations. Policymakers will wonder how neutrality aids broadband deployment, especially given the proliferation of “broadband-enabled innovations” at CES this week, he added: “There is a ‘disconnect’ between consumers’ desires for new products and services and the stifling effects of this bill.” USTelecom Pres.-CEO Walter McCormick said the bill would “make it against the law for any company to invest in customized 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.” Brian Dietz, NCTA vp-communications, said neutrality mandates “will only stifle the investment, innovation and creativity that has been the hallmark of today’s dynamic broadband marketplace.” Free State Foundation Pres. Randolph May said Snowe and Dorgan “would have received a subpoena” from the FTC “if truth-in- labeling applied to our senators,” because they're actually trying to reimpose “analog era” common-carrier regulation.