|
Eric Glick
In a move that's bound to anger cable operators, two federal lawmakers introduced legislation last week that'll force MSOs offering high speed modem service to open their networks to non-affiliated Internet service providers.
Although they said they want to continue the Internet's "freedom from burdensome regulation," U.S. Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced two measures May 5 that could substantially change the way ISPs do business.
The two lawmakers - each representing neighboring districts in rural Virginia - said the two bills will help speed Internet service to communities far beyond urban centers, where ISPs generally focus their business.
The bills - The Internet Freedom Act of 1999 and the Internet Growth and Development Act of 1999 - would require the FCC to lift regulatory limits from Bell companies and others so they can roll out data services more quickly.
At the same time, however, Boucher's "growth and development" bill would open cable operators' broadband facilities to all ISPs, "much as telephone company transport platforms are open today," the lawmaker said.
Boucher said "ISPs are severely threatened by the deployment by cable companies of broadband Internet transport connections" because MSOs "force their cable modem customers to purchase their affiliated Internet services as a condition of subscribing to their high-speed transport service."
Cable operators pose "a major threat" to the generally open nature of the Internet, Boucher said at a May 6 press conference he and Goodlatte held to unveil their proposals. He said the cable model "run(s) contrary to (the traditional telephony Internet) models."
The bills also would take a number of steps to reduce "spamming," allow users to provide electronic signatures when purchasing products over the Internet and increase users' privacy rights.
Goodlatte, who's a member of the House Judiciary Committee said his bill - the freedom act - would apply antitrust laws to cable operators offering high-speed modem service, so MSOs couldn't act as "a choke point" to keep some ISPs off their systems.
For his part, Boucher - who also sits on the Judiciary Committee as well as the House Commerce Committee - said he's unsure if MSOs actions today constitute antitrust activity. But he said the newly introduced measures will take steps to ensure that MSOs could be held liable for violating antitrust laws currently on the books.
Boucher said that the cable modem model is partly responsible for keeping a good portion of the 2,000 or so current ISPs from offering voice service because they don't have access to a large number of customers.
NCTA head Decker Anstrom said, "We strongly oppose this legislation. The last thing the dynamic new Internet market needs is government regulation."
Back to this issue
|
