House rejects Net neutrality rules | Tech News on ZDNet

Have you been hearing about Net Neutrality? Too bad you didn't do your homework and pay closer attention. History is in the making, with you or without you!

Lately on the local political scene, I have been hearing about "those bloggers" and have come to realize that many people are forming opinions without all the facts. That probably does not surprise some of you, but I wish to remind all of us (yes, me included!) to take care in researching - not just to find backing for a pre-formed opinion, but to given true consideration to the issues at hand that affect every one of us. Some may seem more related than others you might say, but don't be fooled. We are all in this together!

Please read the following blurb from TechNews on ZD Net, one of the first internet publishing houses, on the results of the Net Neutrality Vote.

House rejects Net neutrality rules | Tech News on ZDNet: "By a 269-152 vote that fell largely along party lines, the House Republican leadership mustered enough votes to reject a Democrat-backed amendment that would have enshrined stiff Net neutrality regulations into federal law and prevented broadband providers from treating some Internet sites differently from others.

The vote on the amendment (click for PDF) came after nearly a full day of debate on the topic, which prominent Democrats predicted would come to represent a turning point in the history of the Internet.

'The future Sergey Brins, the future Marc Andreessens, of Netscape and Google...are going to have to pay taxes' to broadband providers, said Rep. Ed Markey, the Massachusetts Democrat behind the Net neutrality amendment. This vote will change 'the Internet for the rest of eternity,' he warned.

At issue is a lengthy measure called the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement (COPE) Act, which a House committee approved in April. Its Republican backers, along with broadband providers such as Verizon and AT&T, say it has sufficient Net neutrality protections for consumers, and more extensive rules would discourage investment in wiring American homes with higher-speed connections.

The concept of network neutrality, which generally means that all Internet sites must be treated equally, has drawn a list of high-profile backers, from actress Alyssa Milano to Vint Cerf, one of the technical pioneers of the Internet. It's also led to a political rift between big Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo that back it--and telecom companies that oppose what they view as onerous new federal regulations."