The Net Neutrality Bill Several bills have been introduced regarding the Internet. H.R. 5417, the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006, known as the “Net Neutrality Bill,” is a bipartisan effort “to promote competition, to facilitate trade, and to ensure competitive and non-discriminatory access to the Internet.” It amends the Clayton Antitrust Act to ensure that network providers cannot discriminate against content and service providers. A similar bill, S. 2917 was introduced in the Senate. However, another bill in the Senate, S. 2686, seeking to re-do telecommunications law, does not have a “net neutrality” provision. The issue is the “pay to play” concept; that is, in order to have fast broadband service, consumers and content providers would have to pay for it. There is also a fear that cable and phone companies would bar consumers from having access to speech that they don’t support.
