At the end of 2006, net neutrality advocates got a temporary victory in an agreement by AT&T to maintain network neutrality for the next two years. Tom Abate covered the story for the SF Chronicle in Net neutrality advocates hail AT&T's concessions:
[...]
On Dec. 29, it [AT&T] agreed for roughly two years to abide by much the same "network neutrality" rules that it had spent 2006 strenuously opposing in Congress.
[...]
When asked by The Chronicle, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner declined to say whether they will continue to honor this unofficial moratorium while AT&T's hands remain tied.
But the prevailing wisdom on Capitol Hill is that the big four won't rock the boat while Congress is considering whether to make AT&T's temporary agreement the basis for a net neutrality law that would bind them all.
AT&T chief lobbyist Jim Cicconi said, "We continue to believe that net neutrality regulations are unwarranted and unwise."
As for what comes next, a House staffer said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who championed net neutrality last year, will introduce a bill soon to make something similar to the AT&T concessions binding on the entire industry -- and this time he will do so as chairman of a key subcommittee.
But Jessica Zufolo, a telecommunications expert with the Medley Global Advisors policy research firm, said that although momentum has shifted to a coalition that seeks to preserve neutrality on the Internet, it is too early to tell whether proponents will be able to convert a majority of the House and Senate, and ultimately the president.
Meanwhile, the merger concessions create a deadline for Congress to either act or not.
[...]
Read the whole thing here. More commentary at Save the Internet.
This post was written by Marc of Mental Masala.
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