Net Neutrality, an Anti-trust Issue

Free Press : Press Release:

"Consumer Federation, Consumers Union, Free Press and Public Knowledge Endorse Judiciary Committee Bill; New Report Supports Ban on Network Discrimination

WASHINGTON - In a letter today to the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Free Press and Public Knowledge urged adoption of the 'Internet Freedom and Non-Discrimination Act' (H.R. 5417) to protect the free and open Internet.

'The phone and cable companies fighting Network Neutrality have cloaked the issue in anti-regulatory rhetoric,' said Mark Cooper, Director of Research for the Consumer Federation of America. 'But the Internet has become the engine of innovation, economic growth and free speech precisely because nondiscrimination rules have applied to communications networks and have prevented network owners from abusing their market power to undercut the competition.'

The bipartisan legislation is sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.); Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.); and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.). The bill is scheduled to be marked up at a hearing on Thursday.

'The bill squarely addresses the issue of the enormous market power of the telephone and cable companies as the providers of 98 percent of the broadband service in the country,' said Gigi Sohn, President of Public Knowledge. 'The bill restores the principle of non-discrimination that allowed the Internet to flourish since its inception, making certain that the same freedom and innovation will flourish in the future.'"