Net neutrality back on the radar

The House of Representatives is once again delving into the issue of Net neutrality. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said that without new Net neutrality laws, "telecommunications and cable companies will be able to create toll lanes on the information superhighway. This strikes at the heart of the free and equal nature of the Internet." That is a scary thought, but plenty of insiders have blamed the failure of getting legislation passed so far on the cable industry.

Rep. Ed Markey re-introduced legislation on Wednesday that seeks to make sure the next generation of Internet users have open access to the net and are protected from the whims of the broadband industry that controls the networks. He hopes to push the bill forward this year. The Open Internet Coalition, which includes Ask.com, eBay, Match.com, Google and a number of other advocacy groups, says that Markey's legislation "will make Net Neutrality the law of the land, and will require the FCC to protect Internet freedom from the predatory efforts of the telco and cable gatekeepers."

For more on Net neutrality:
- See this CNET article 
- Also see this CNET article
- And this InformationWeek article