The U.S. House of Representatives is due to contend a wide - range telecommunications reform bill as soon as Thursday , and lawmakers will have a chance to vote on a net neutrality amendment , House leaders say .
The House Rules Committee , which decides what amendments will be allowed on the House floor , voted Wednesday to allow two major net neutrality amendments to be voted on when the House debates the telecommunication bill .
The 2nd amendment , patronize by Representative Ed Markey , a Massachusetts Democrat , would ask broadband providers that typeset aside faster connectedness for raw service such as video over Internet Protocol to provide the same upper to competing service .
Barton , chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee , say Wednesday he opposes a move to appropriate a last neutrality amendment prohibiting broadband supplier from blocking or deflower competing Web content .
But Speaker Dennis Hastert , the top - ranking Republican in the House , said Wednesday lawmakers would be able to vote on some form of a net disinterest amendment to Barton ’s bill . While Barton , a Texas Republican , opposes a net neutrality amendment , Sensenbrenner , chairman of the House Judiciary Committee , has pushed for a net disinterest natural law .
On Tuesday , the Christian Coalition , a grouping that has influence among many Republicans , sent a missive to the Rules Committee urging it to let a net neutrality amendment . “ There is nothing to blockade the cable and speech sound company from not allowing consumers to have memory access to speech that [ provider ] do not stomach , ” pronounce Roberta Combs , the Christian Coalition ’s president , in the varsity letter .
Net disinterest counsellor have been rejected when judge to push legislation forrader in the House this class , Barton said . “ I am not an advocate of giving them another bite at the apple , ” he said .
Barton has argued that a last disinterest provision is n’t call for because there ’s little grounds of wideband providers lug subject .
Many consumer mathematical group and Internet - based companies have criticized the Barton flier , sound out it does n’t bring home the bacon broadband customers inviolable enough protection against gargantuan broadband carrier blocking or restricting competing Web contentedness .
In late months , broadband providers AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. have said they ’ve considered concern plans that would allow them to charge net companies an surplus fee for faster speeds , with companies not yield the special fee receive dull connecter .
Broadband providers need new business concern models to pay for next - genesis networks , the providers reason .
The Barton bill enjoin broadband providers should not block or vitiate contend contentedness , but it would permit the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) to investigate block abuse only after the fact , and it would disallow the FCC from creating young final neutrality rules .
The Senate is debating its own broadband circular . The Senate bill is broad than the Barton statute law , but it would also streamline video franchising for telecom providers .
