House votes to block net neutrality bill

By Molly McHugh February 18, 2011

The proposed net neutrality policy was shot down by the House of Representatives on Thursday. The legislation would have kept Internet service providers from blocking legal online content and given the FCC funds to ensure that these broadband owners could not ban competing services.

According to House majority leader Eric Canter, the decision will “debunk the FCC’s harmful and partisan plan to regulate the Internet.” Republican representatives expressed fear that the new rulings would kill jobs and hinder industry innovation. In short, a divide has been struck between those who want the Internet develop without government regulation and those who see a need to keep large corporations from controlling the Web. At the moment, the former is winning.

Last month, Verizon filed an appeal against the FCC for the proposed net neutrality plan. Despite being involved in the rulings origins themselves, the carrier cried foul and planned to sue. According to Verizon, the net neutrality agreement gave “sweeping” powers to the FCC, allowing it complete authority over ISPs and their network’s traffic.

And while the House republicans have seen eye to eye with Verizon on this, there are those in the minority who disagree. According to Reuters, democratic representative Edward Markey argues that, “Verizon’s not going to invent anything new. What they want to do is squeeze competitors.”

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Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

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