LIRNEasia » House Energy and Commerce Committee http://lirneasia.net a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:38:15 +0000 en hourly 1 New ‘Net Neutrality’ policy would clog the Internet? http://lirneasia.net/2008/11/new-net-neutrality-policy-would-clog-the-internet/ http://lirneasia.net/2008/11/new-net-neutrality-policy-would-clog-the-internet/#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:39:40 +0000 Chanuka Wattegama http://lirneasia.net/?p=2967 Reproducing an op-ed piece from elsewhere:

Barack Obama, self-confessed BlackBerry addict, will undoubtedly be the most tech-savvy president in history. But being tech-savvy isn’t the same as being tech-smart.

The combination of Obama in the White House and new leaders of key tech-related committees in Congress should send warning flags up for all who cherish the freedom and vitality of the Internet.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the technology sector. Waxman-like Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee-is a strong proponent of so-called “net neutrality.” Despite its innocent-sounding moniker, net neutrality is hardly neutral.

A federal law mandating net neutrality would strip Internet service providers (ISPs) of the ability to control how they manage Web traffic over the broadband infrastructure they developed, built, own, and market to the public.

Read the full article by James G. Lakely in News Blaze here.

]]> http://lirneasia.net/2008/11/new-net-neutrality-policy-would-clog-the-internet/feed/ 0 US lawmakers need broadband indicator http://lirneasia.net/2007/11/us-lawmakers-need-broadband-indicator/ http://lirneasia.net/2007/11/us-lawmakers-need-broadband-indicator/#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:18:19 +0000 Abu Saeed Khan http://www.lirneasia.net/2007/11/us-lawmakers-need-broadband-indicator/ The United States is starting to look like a slowpoke on the Internet. What’s less clear is how badly the country that gave birth to the Internet is doing, and whether the government needs to step in and do something about it. To get a clearer picture of where the US stands, the House Energy [...]]]> The United States is starting to look like a slowpoke on the Internet. What’s less clear is how badly the country that gave birth to the Internet is doing, and whether the government needs to step in and do something about it.

To get a clearer picture of where the US stands, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation that would develop an annual inventory of existing broadband services — including the types, advertised speeds and actual number of subscribers — available to households and businesses nationwide.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., is intended to provide policy makers with improved data so they can better use grants and subsidies to target areas lacking high-speed Internet access. He said in a statement last week that promoting broadband would help spur job growth, access to health care and education and promote innovation among other benefits.

The inventory wouldn’t cover other countries, but a cursory look shows the US lagging behind at least some of them. In South Korea, for instance, the average apartment can get an Internet connection that’s 15 times faster than a typical US connection. In Paris, a “triple play” of TV, phone and broadband service costs less than half of what it does in the USA. Read more.

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