Byron Dorgan (Democrat from ND) appears to be playing a central role in maintaining net neutrality (Save the Internet analysis).
The battle for Net Neutrality – or Internet freedom – has significantly stronger bipartisan support in the Senate. Senators Snowe (R-Maine) and Dorgan (D-N.D.) have introduced the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2006? that enjoys the strong support from the SaveTheInternet coalition.
Supposed threats to the Internet have floated through listservs in the past, but mostly these have been false issues. The COPE (pdf of legislation provided by Benton Foundation) legislation (you may recognize the phrase net neutrality) is very real and Internet users should pay attention.
COPE would allow providers to exercise control over the priority allowed different information types (again my interpretation). I know that my university does this to keep the university use of the Internet within assigned bandwidth limits (e.g., MP3 traffic is slowed during the day and allowed to move faster after hours). The difference is that the major providers could apply such priorities to their own advantage – e.g., those with an interest in traditional long distance could slow VOIP traffic to the point the low quality made such options useless.
