isen.blog

Doing conferences is an amazing experience, but it turns my life inside-out. After F2C, I had three Margaritas, went to bed early, awoke at 1:00 AM, probably at 1:02:03 AM (on 04/05/06), and then could not get back to sleep, so I drove home to Connecticut, arriving just before morning NYC rush hour. I've been alternately napping and listening to the House Commerce Telecom Subcommittee hearing on COPA, Son of BITS all day.

We lost, by the way. The Bells won this round. (NOTE: I don't think the Internet has a party. But the Bells do -- the Republicans.) Blair Levin, in a Stifel Nicolaus email report today, writes,

House telecom subcommittee members have beaten back a number of Democratic amendments to change a bill aimed at speeding Bell entry into video through national franchising. Panel Republicans as well as some Democrats at times opposed various substantive Democratic amendments, including to impose telco video build-out duties, toughen broadband network neutrality safeguards, and strengthen local control of public rights of way. Some of the votes were close, but the network neutrality vote was more lopsided than some expected (23-8 against), as several Democrats joined all but one of the Republicans in opposing the Democratic amendment.

This despite a letter, signed by Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Barry Diller (Interactive Corp.), Meg Whitman (eBay), Steve Balmer (Microsoft), Eric Schmidt (Google) and Terry Semel (Yahoo!) to House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, that said,

. . . the telecommunications legislation being considered by the Committee fails to preserve the longstanding openness of the Internet. Without critical changes, the legislation puts at risk consumer choice, American innovation and global competitiveness.

Until FCC decisions made last summer, consumers’ ability to choose the content and services they want via their broadband connections was assured by regulatory safeguards. Innovators likewise have been able to use their ingenuity and knowledge of the marketplace to develop new and better online offerings. This “innovation without permission” has fueled phenomenal economic growth, productivity gains, and global leadership for our nation’s high tech companies.

To preserve this environment, we urge the Committee to include language that directly addresses broadband network operators’ ability to manipulate what consumers will see and do online. It is equally important to pass a bill that fleshes out these consumer freedoms via rules of the road that are both meaningful and readily enforceable.

Maura Corbett, of Qorvis Communications helped put this amazing group of CEOs together to write this letter.

Apparently, COPA, son of BITS, will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
Pay attention! They're trying to slip one past us!

Technorati Tags: F2C, Internet, NetworkNeutrality