NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: H.R. 3458, Rep. Markey's third bill proposing to regulate the Internet and ISPs
Greetings. I must admit that I am mystified regarding the message forwarded below. I know that Seth is not a big fan of P2P. But it's beyond even my imagination how he can find a problem in wording that supports the provisioning of adequate bandwidth for *legal* Internet services to and from users. Major ISPs *have* been increasing upstream bandwidth. Time Warner around here in L.A., without any fanfare at all (and I think some fanfare would have been in order), doubled max upstream rates to 2Mb within the last couple of weeks. On the other hand, with so many ISPs implementing port blocking and non-traffic-sensitive anti-server restrictions in their TOS that are technically unjustifiable, that upstream bandwidth is frequently hobbled from the word go. By the way, regarding Richard Bennett's predictable blast at Markey's latest effort to reign in ISP abuses: http://www.internetevolution.com/document.asp?doc_id=180730 I can't resist noting the interesting aspects of ITIF for whom he's a research fellow. Not only does ITIF generally seem opposed to Internet regulation, but their policy papers tend to play down the value that increased genuine competition would have in the ISP marketplace, and seem to suggest that we really don't have it so bad after all. Sounds a lot like the kinds of arguments that the health insurance industry has been selling to Congress. It's a wonderful world! You have it great! Now shut up, take what we deem fit to provide, and pay us! --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@vortex.com Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein - - - On 08/24 12:58, David Farber wrote: > > > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf@sethf.com> > Date: August 24, 2009 12:11:38 PM EDT > To: David Farber <dave@farber.net> > Cc: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> > Subject: Re: [IP] H.R. 3458, Rep. Markey's third bill proposing to > regulate the Internet and ISPs. > >> http://www.freepress.net/files/H.R.3458-7-31-09.pdf > > Note page 10 seems to contain a P2P support *mandate*!!!: > > "(g) OTHER SERVICES.--Not later than 180 days > after the date of enactment of the Internet Freedom Pres- > ervation Act of 2009, the Commission shall complete all > actions necessary to-- > "(1) promote an ever-increasing level of Inter- > net access service to end users; > "(2) ensure that such evolving level of service > provided to end users is capable of supporting lawful > content, applications, and services and provides > ample bandwidth for such traffic to and from an end user; > > Also relevant is the press release: > > http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3763&Itemid=141 > > July 31, 2009: REPS. MARKEY, ESHOO INTRODUCE BILL TO PRESERVE FREE > AND OPEN INTERNET > > Washington, D.C. ... Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Anna G. Eshoo > (D-CA) introduced a bill today that will establish overarching > national broadband policy and ensures an open and consumer oriented > Internet. > > "The Internet is a success today because it was open to everyone with > an idea," said Rep. Markey. "That openness and freedom has been at > risk since the Supreme Court decision in Brand X. This bill will > protect consumers and content providers because it will restore the > guarantee that one does not have to ask permission to innovate." > "The Internet has thrived and revolutionized business and the economy > precisely because it started as an open technology," Rep. Eshoo > said. "This bill will ensure that the non-discriminatory framework > that allows the Internet to thrive and competition on the Web to > flourish is preserved at a time when our economy needs it the most." > > H.R. 3458, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, is designed to > assess and promote Internet freedom for consumers and content > providers. The bill will also require the FCC to examine whether > carriers are blocking access to lawful content, applications, or > services. The legislation calls for the FCC to conduct eight public > broadband summits around the country no less than a year after the > bill is enacted. These summits will be used to gather input from > consumers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and other > stakeholders on Internet freedom and U.S. broadband policies > affecting consumer protection, competition, and consumer choice. > ... > A full text of the bill can be found here: > http://markey.house.gov/images/PDFs/netneutralitybill.pdf > > > -- > Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer http://sethf.com > Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/ > Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php > > > > > ------------------------------------------- > Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now > RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ > Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----