• Reuters, Friday, October 1, 2010 12:31 AM

A temporary legislative fix to regulate broadband traffic failed to garner Republican support, killing the chance of a remedy from the Congress before the mid-term elections. For weeks, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman floated legislation contingent on bipartisan support. He said it would be "an interim measure to protect net neutrality while Congress considers a permanent solution."

The underlying idea of Net neutrality is that high-speed Internet providers should not be allowed to give preferential treatment to content providers that pay for faster transmission. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took up the controversial issue over the summer but was unable to reach a consensus with phone, cable and Internet companies. Waxman's proposal would have prevented broadband providers from blocking legal Web sites, but fell short of holding mobile providers to more stringent Net neutrality standards.

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