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“The latest Net neutrality provisions in a mammoth Senate communications bill stopped short of giving Internet companies and consumer advocacy groups all the assurances they’ve requested.

“Unveiled formally at a briefing here for reporters on Monday, new provisions in the latest draft of the sweeping Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act would allow the Federal Communications Commission to police subscribers’ complaints of “interference” in their Internet activities and to levy fines on violators.

“Specifically, the bill would require all Internet service providers to adhere to what the proposal calls an ‘Internet consumer bill of rights.’ But critics say the latest draft refrained from addressing a major complaint of advocates of network neutrality–that is, the idea that network operators should give equal treatment to all content that travels across their pipes.”

Anne Broache. Senate Panel Proposes Net User ‘Bill of Rights’. News.com. June 19, 2006.

Related Stories & Documents:

• U.S. Congress. Consumer’s Choice and Broadband Deployment Act (S. 2686). June 22, 2006.
• Ars Technica. Senate Bill Compromise Paves the Way for “Net Neutrality Lite.” June 18, 2006.
• Talking Points Memo. Net Neutrality Senate Vote Tally. June 15, 2006. (Last update.)
• Anne Broache. Net Neutrality Field In Congress Gets Crowded. News.com. May 19, 2006.
• U.S. Congress. Internet Freedom Preservation Act. (.pdf) Undated draft. (Courtesy of Public Knowledge)
• The Conservative Voice. What the Misguided Have Missed Regarding Network Neutrality. May 9, 2006.

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