A response from my representative:
Thank you for contacting me about "net neutrality." I appreciate hearing
from you.
Recent changes in federal regulation and court decisions have altered the
legal protections against discrimination in access to the internet. As a
result, some internet service providers now see the potential to profit by
providing favored treatment to some internet content providers, the same way
retailers charge manufacturers for prominent product displays in their
stores. Such discrimination among internet content providers would forever
change the open, vibrant competition based now on the appeal of internet
content and would deny consumers the right to choose internet content
freely.
The House considered the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and
Enforcement ("COPE") Act on June 8, 2006. Two amendments specifically
presented the issue of net neutrality. One clarified that antitrust laws
applied to internet service providers, which would provide modest protection
against discrimination among internet content providers. I voted for that
amendment, which passed by a vote of 353 to 68. Congressman Ed Markey
offered a more ambitious amendment that would have specifically required net
neutrality by internet service providers, reinstating the previous
regulatory protection to content providers and consumers. I voted for that
amendment also, but the amendment failed by a vote of 152 to 269. Finally, I
voted against the COPE Act for a variety of reasons, but prominent among
those reasons was the failure to include provisions to protect net
neutrality. The bill passed the House by a vote of 321 to 101.
It appears very unlikely that the Senate will accept the legislation passed
by the House, so the issue will likely come before the House again, in which
case I will certainly keep your views in mind. Please contact me about other
issues important to you. Thank you.
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