A massive telecommunications bill may die this year, due to a rift over Net neutrality, according to CNET. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the chairman of the U.S. Senate panel, suggested Tuesday that he
was no longer confident he could drum up the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster on the proposal. It would--among other things--change the way the government subsidizes rural telecommunications and
determine whether Congress should pass new laws barring network operators from prioritizing certain Web content. The bill also considers whether those operators should be able to make money and
partnership deals with third-party content providers that want their material delivered faster. Earlier this summer, the measure was defeated 11-11 in the Senate; The House, meanwhile, approved a more
narrow measure that falls short of Net neutrality supporters' wishes. Even if the bill dies this year, the issue remains. "That issue is not going to go away until we have a whole lot more (broadband)
competition than we do today, at least in my view," says James Assey, senior counsel to the Senate committee's Democrats. Democrats like Oregon Senator Ron Wyden have sought to derail the bill because
it doesn't offer sufficient safeguards against possible Net neutrality violations.
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