DailyTech previously reported on a proposed law that would allow large telcos and broadband providers to create tiered networks in which bandwidth is controlled depending on what a connection is being used for, how much is being paid, and if the connection is used to potentially access information from competitors. Many companies like Google and Microsoft have said that tiered networks will hurt the development of the Internet overall for users and that net neutrality should become a law.
Today, the House Committee approved by majority vote a bill that will uphold net neutrality. The bill will prevent telcos and ISPs from creating tiered networks. Members of the house committee argue that many citizens in the US are located in areas where there are few choices in broadband providers. In circumstances like this, the net neutrality law will prevent the local telco or cable provider from engaging in anti-competitive practices that are usually associated with monopolistic organizations.
The news of the net neutrality bill being passed and approved will mean good news for Internet users, but all is not smooth as of yet. AT&T voiced its opinion on the net neutrality law and questioned its use. According to a report on Yahoo, AT&T said that it was disappointed in the decision of the House Committee to support the bill. Tim McKone, AT&T executive vice president for federal relations said that the House Committee had approved of a bill to help solve "a problem that doesn't exist." Both AT&T and Cisco previously mentioned that the net neutrality law would stifle the development of new technologies, which is exactly what Google, Microsoft and others have been saying would happen if there was no net neutrality.
Earlier this year, the House Subcommittee rejected an amendment that would have blocked Internet service providers from regulating connections based on content of customers. At the time, the subcommittee decided it was too early to regulate the Internet as a whole. Today, the vote was passed by all 14 Democrats on the committee and they were joined by 6 Republicans. 13 other Republicans were opposed to the bill.
Interestingly, the members of the committee that supported the bill said that they voted for the bill because existing competition to another bill that was already approved by a different committee. The decision to support the current bill they said, had nothing to do with actual concerns on the future of the Internet and what net neutrality is all about.
