On Wednesday, January 21, 2015 the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held consecutive hearings “Protecting the Internet and Consumers through Congressional Action”. The hearings discussed a draft bill that would pre-empt the FCC’s revised Open Internet ruling, expected in February 2015, specifically:
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure Internet openness, to prohibit blocking lawful content and non-harmful devices, to prohibit throttling data, to prohibit paid prioritization, to require transparency of network management practices, to provide that broadband shall be considered to be an information service, and to prohibit the Commission or a State commission from relying on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a grant of authority.
Video is below. Speaker indexes are available in the YouTube descriptions.
HOUSE HEARING:
View on Youtube: http://youtu.be/uP_dxvXzVwI
Transcribe on AMARA: http://www.amara.org/en/videos/21PwAWRTWXm0/
Witnesses: Michael Powell – President and CEO, National Cable & Telecommunications Association; Chad Dickerson – CEO, Etsy; Paul Misener – Vice President of Global Public Policy, Amazon Inc; Jessica Gonzalez – Executive Vice President and General Counsel, National Hispanic Media Coalition; Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee – Vice President and Chief Research and Policy Officer, Minority Media & Telecom Council; Meredith Atwell Baker, President and CEO, CTIA-The Wireless Association
SENATE HEARING:
View on Youtube: http://youtu.be/vefwMem49KM
Transcribe on AMARA: http://www.amara.org/en/videos/DwK4KMPgaQWf/
Witnesses: Meredith Attwell Baker – President and CEO, CTIA-The Wireless Association; Gene Kimmelman – President and CEO, Public Knowledge; Robert McDowell – Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Paul Misener – Vice President, Global Public Policy, Amazon Inc.; Tom Simmons – Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Midcontinent Communications; Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee – Vice President & Chief Research and Policy Officer, Minority Media & Telecommunications Council
Today Wednesday January 12 2016 the 
On Wednesday July 22 2015, the 
Steve Carter is discussing. 
Thomas Sachson 1:24 pm on March 16, 2016 Permalink |
On the issue of “zero-rating”, this is all the more reason why carriers should embrace simple toll-free apps (www.freebyte.me). This type of tech won’t violate net neutrality since it is designed to prevent any form of network prioritization / favoritism / price discrimination. Also, the FCC’s regulatory remit likely ends at the edge of the core network – not extending to the billions of “network independent” apps (third party software) that merely reside on a phone after being installed therein at the sole discretion of the phone owner / retail consumer.