Markey Bill “Antithetical” to Congress’ Innovation Agenda February 14th, 2008
Bill Deere

On Tuesday, Reps. Ed Markey (D – Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R – Miss.) introduced H.R. 5353, Chairman Markey’s latest attempt to codify the nebulous concept of network neutrality. Although the bill looks different than its 2006 predecessor, it still holds significant potential to erode innovation and investment in broadband networks, which will in turn hamper efforts to bring broadband’s benefits to more Americans. USTelecom’s Walter McCormick issued a statement on the bill, calling it “antithetical to the Congressional innovation agenda.”

The Markey bill is clearly written to the foregone conclusion that regulation of the Internet is necessary today—despite the absence of real-world “problems” for the government to “fix.” This approach would needlessly inject substantial uncertainty into our economy and dampen the investment climate for continued broadband deployment in our communities. With nearly 1,400 broadband service providers in the U.S. today, consumers should be driving broadband’s evolution, not Congress. If the national objective is bringing broadband’s promise to all Americans, then we have far better options than government regulation. From innovative, public-private partnerships like Connect Kentucky to progress in the Farm Bill to target rural broadband loans to unserved areas, we are finding constructive ways for the government, local communities and private companies to work together. A return to the policies of the past would be a real setback to the broadband future. It’s our hope that Congress will maintain its focus on encouraging continued progress in our efforts to bring broadband to all Americans.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Legislation, Net Regulation, Statements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.