A group of Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would restore the 2010 net neutrality rules.
The Open Internet Preservation Act (S. 1981) would effectively prohibit broadband providers from blocking or discriminating
against lawful content, apps or services. The Federal Communications Commission passed rules to that effect in 2010, but the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down those regulations last month.
Now that the rules have been invalidated, Internet service providers theoretically could start censoring sites, apps or services. ISPs also could slow down sites offered by competitors, or
charge companies extra fees to reach users faster.
The bill unveiled this week is sponsored by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.),
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). A companion bill in the House ( H.R. 3982) was introduced by Reps Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.).
While news of the bill's
introduction was cheered by broadband advocates like Public Knowledge, the proposal itself is almost certainly doomed, given that many lawmakers oppose any attempt to enact neutrality rules. In 2011,
opponents to neutrality laws in the House passed a measure that would have prevented the FCC from using funds to implement net neutrality regulations -- which were then only several months old. The
Senate didn't pass a similar bill, and the defunding effort died.
For now, neutrality advocates are continuing to push FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband access as a
telecommunications service. If the FCC does, it can require ISPs to follow similar common carrier regulations as phone companies -- including the rules that were struck down last month.
Wheeler
has talked about the importance of an open Web, but hasn't yet said how he intends to respond to the decision gutting the rules that would have preserved neutrality.