Net Neutrality Defeated -Telcos and Cable Win(supportive Dems named)

Net Neutrality Defeated -- Telcos and Cable Win

By Art Brodsky
A House Committee sold out the Internet.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about an amendment in the House Commerce Committee that will go a long way to determining the future of the Internet. The vote is over, and the amendment from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and others to protect the Internet and preserve openness and innovation lost. The vote was 22-34. That's the bad news.

The good news is that, considering the lobbying power of the combined cable and telephone industry lobbying, losing by this little is a good sign. It's better than we did at subcommittee. There is some recognition that the grass roots efforts that started relatively late in the game, combined with some lobbying by e-commerce companies, is starting to have an effect. We've probably got a couple of weeks before the full telecom bill goes to the House floor. (As I write this, the final vote hasn't happened yet, but there's no doubt the Committee will approve the bill.)

This turned, unfortunately, into a partisan fight. Only one courageous Republican, Heather Wilson of New Mexico, voted in favor of the amendment. These Democrats left the reservation: Ed Towns of New York, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Al Wynn of Maryland, Gene Green of Texas and Charlie Gonzales of Texas.

~snip~

Apr 26, 2006 -- 04:51:54 PM EST

http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29242

The communications industry being the incestuous beast that it is, these days, I wonder which, if any, of the major networks will be willing to bring this issue to the attention of the public.

I knew they would do it of course. But it makes the pill no less bitter, they simply couldn't wait to get their greedy exploitive capitalistic pig hands onto the net and screw it up.

Yesterday's news
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-sweet25.html
Snip> An Englewood community center founded by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), a key player on telecommunications legislation, received a $1 million grant from the charitable arm of SBC/AT&T, one of the nation's largest phone companies.

The chief of a congressional watchdog group says Rush's ongoing association with the Rebirth of Englewood Community Development Corporation and his role in shaping telecommunications law as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee is a conflict of interest. Using charitable giving as a backdoor way to curry favor with lawmakers is coming under increasing scrutiny, figuring in controversies associated with former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), who was forced to temporarily step aside as the ranking Democrat on the Ethics panel.

In todays editorial (second item)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits26.html
Snip>That organization is now at the center of a debate over whether Rush crossed the line when the organization accepted a $1 million grant from the SBC Foundation, the charitable arm of the communication giant SBC/AT&T.

Political watchdog groups think so, and we concur.

Snip>And consider this: Controversial legislation that could benefit large communication conglomerates such as SBC also bears Rush's name. Known as the Barton-Rush bill, the legislation is a rewrite of telecommunications law and has come under fire by the cable industry, while it is backed by phone service providers.