Senators bash “telecom oligarchs,” propose strict net neutrality bill

In the month since the FCC adopted its open Internet rules, most of the DC debate over net neutrality has focused on FCC overreach. Verizon sued the agency. MetroPCS sued the agency. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill to strip the FCC of any authority to regulate Internet access.

But Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) have another point of view: the FCC didn't go far enough. The pair yesterday introduced the "Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011" (PDF) to extend net neutrality to all forms of Internet access (including wireless).

"The recent FCC ruling on net neutrality does not do nearly enough to protect consumers, and this bill is designed to maintain a free and open Internet," Franken said in a statement when the bill was released. Last week, Franken made a speech in which he called net neutrality the "free speech issue of our time" and said that the FCC rules "will create essentially two Internets."

Ars Video

The new bill is strict with ISPs. In contrast to the vaguer language in the FCC's net neutrality order, the bill simply bans ISPs from doing all sorts of things, including:

(6) charg[ing] a content, application, or service provider for access to the broadband Internet access service providers' end users based on differing levels of quality of service or prioritized delivery of Internet protocol packets;

(7) prioritiz[ing] among or between content, applications, and services, or among or between different types of content, applications, and services unless the end user requests to have such prioritization...

(9) refus[ing] to interconnect on just and reasonable terms and conditions.

The bill also makes clear that it applies to all forms of Internet access, whether those IP packets come by wire, radio, or donkey caravan. Even "degrading" a user's access to legal content ("including fair use") is prohibited, and ISPs can't force subscribers to sign up for extra services like phone or video.

"The reason a seemingly technical issue such as net neutrality has become such a politicized fight is that the financial stakes are so high," said Cantwell.

"If we let telecom oligarchs control access to the Internet, consumers will lose. The actions that the FCC and Congress take now will set the ground rules for competition on the broadband Internet, impacting innovation, investment, and jobs for years to come. My bill returns the broadband cop back to the beat, and creates the same set of obligations regardless of how consumers get their broadband."