Reply #15: Welcome to the new tiered internet you are on a lower class level now!

[sce56]

Senate Chair Takes on FTC in Net Neutrality Fight
09.12.07
Total posts: 1


By Chloe Albanesius

A Senate subcommittee chairman tangled with the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday, calling into question the agency's hands-off approach to Internet regulation.
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"We're headed toward a circumstance where big providers that have a lot of muscle … will set up different lanes and freeways" over the Internet and provide quicker download times or site access for those willing to pay for it, said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-S.D., chairman of the Senate interstate commerce, trade and tourism subcommittee.

"We're concerned that regulating prematurely and perhaps on such a broad basis … really could serve to squelch this market in a way that's harmful to consumers," responded FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, who appeared before the panel to discuss her agency's annual re-authorization.

At issue is the topic of net neutrality, which essentially guarantees equal online access so that every Web site on the Internet, whether it is a major company's portal or a homemade storefront, has the same right to speed and access. Some major Internet service providers, however, have called for a system that would allow for tiered, rate-based access.