Markey Bill Seeks FCC Net Neutrality Study
Broadband providers’ consumer Internet access policies would be the subject of an FCC study, according to those familiar with a draft bill proposed by House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., and retiring Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. The FCC would also have to hold eight conferences throughout the country to assess competition in broadband Internet service. The summits would collect information from state and local governments, consumer groups, companies, schools and labor groups and technology industry experts.
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The report, including FCC recommendations based on the findings, would be sent to Congress. The recommendations would center on practices that could improve companies, preserve free speech and create a market allowing consumers a choice of broadband providers. The bill is expected to reignite the debate on net neutrality, although it wouldn’t impose government rules. Several groups that have pushed for net neutrality legislation are holding news briefings this week, when the bill is expected to be announced.
The bill takes a different approach from the net neutrality bill Markey offered in the previous Congress. It would have required the FCC to adopt rules enabling consumer complaints about broadband service. That bill also would have given the commission the power to impose fines and order broadband network operators to pay damages if they were found to have violated the measure’s open access provisions.
Carriers disagreed with Markey’s approach, arguing that the broadband industry is evolving quickly and regulations suggested now may be unworkable by the time they're made law. Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke said Monday he still sees no need for net neutrality legislation because existing policies and laws provide appropriate consumer protection.
But the Markey-Pickering approach might strike a favorable chord among groups seeking action, even if it doesn’t go as far as the previous bill. The bill is said to require the commission to examine broadband providers’ pricing policies to find out whether premium prices or fees are being charged for particular Internet applications. If they are, the commission would be required to say whether the practices would violate a proposed addition to the Communications Act that would prohibit discrimination by providers.