Congress Revisits Net Neutrality

The 110th Congress tipped its hand late Tuesday as to which way it is leaning with the reintroduction of a bill that would bar telecommunications carriers from charging commercial tolls on the Internet, in effect making Net neutrality the law in the United States.

It will be the second go-around for the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2007, which was introduced in bipartisan fashion by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), among others.

The bill, which was introduced in committee in May last year, will reignite last year’s very divisive Net neutrality debate, but this time supporters of the bill believe they have the upper hand since this Congress, unlike the last one, is controlled by Democrats.

The bill also follows another Internet-related bill introduced Monday in the House of Representatives by Chris Smith (R-New Jersey). The legislation reignites a debate that started last year. It blocks U.S. companies from cooperating with repressive regimes.