Net Neutrality Gets Bridge To Nowhere

Ready. Set. Flinch. The same senator who fought for the $223 million bridge to Nowhere, Alaska is in charge of rewriting United States telecommunications laws in the Senate. In a working draft of an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has confused just about everybody. A crash course in Congressional Logic 101: It's not okay for government, by way of FCC regulation, to interfere with the free economic structure enjoyed by telecommunications giants AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. It is okay for government, by way of FCC regulation, to interfere with the free economic structure enjoyed by broadcasters and consumers, as long as it involves the Recording Industry Association of America, but not necessarily the Motion Picture Association of America. Confused? Let's do the longer version. Network neutrality advocates were disappointed to see a lack of provisions for the principle's protection under the voted down the proposed "Markey Amendment" to the COPE Act. We remember Sen. Stevens from the famous "Bridge to Nowhere," Stevens' top campaign contributors. They include: 1. News Corp. 3. Verizon 5. Viacom 6. AT&T 7. Walt Disney 9. General Electric (NBC) 19. Sprint Nextel Under the amendment, the FCC would be commissioned to outlaw digital over-the-air radio and digital satellite receivers that allow users to record broadcasts. New receivers would be required to treat broadcasts marked with an audio broadcast flag as copy-protected. That makes the RIAA very happy. From The same goes for digital TV tuners, like ElGato's EyeTV 500, that record and save over-the-air broadcasts and save them without copy protection. Stevens does include measures in the bill already protected under Just for a recap, Sen. Stevens, whose largest contributors are telecommunications and broadcasting companies, wrote legislation favorable to telecommunications and broadcasting companies and unfavorable to the general consumer, small businesses, and Internet companies while providing "new protections" of rights citizens already have. Maybe if we trade him back the bridge, he'll let this one go. Tag: | document.write("Email Murdok here.") Drag this to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") Yahoo My Web