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Note: We wish the concept of 'ethics' and the 'public interest' were also factors that Sen. Stevens could recognize.

from: Technology Daily

Stevens Concedes 'Net Neutrality'May Kill Telecom Bill This Year

By David Hatch

(Tuesday, September 12) Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, publicly acknowledged that the telecommunications legislation he has championed for more than a year is unraveling.

"Net neutrality was the most hotly debated portion of our communications bill, and it is the subject that is holding up the communications bill," he said at a confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who has been nominated for a second term at the agency.

The measure would not mandate network neutrality regulations to bar high-speed Internet providers from blocking or degrading competing content. But it would require the agency to examine the issue and protect the rights of consumers to access Web sites unimpeded.

The lack of stricter neutrality safeguards, however, has splintered the Senate and the communications industry.

The network neutrality issue "may well lead to [the telecom measure's] total defeat this year after 19 months of work on that bill," Stevens said of his measure, which his committee narrowly approved in June but which has not reached the floor.

Stevens’ downbeat assessment came just days after a top Stevens aide said that the chairman remained “optimistic” he could round up the 60 votes needed to cut off a possible filibuster – and thereby bring the bill to the Senate floor.

“He's working with Sen. [Daniel] Inouye to get the bill up," the Commerce Committee’s majority staff director, Lisa Sutherland, told a briefing for communications attorneys last Friday.

However, at the same briefing, James Assey -- counsel to Hawaii's Inouye, the senior Democrat on the committee -- did not sound as optimistic that a vote would occur before Congress adjourns for the year.

"We just have to wait and see," said Assey, noting that the Senate bill is multifaceted as compared to telecom overhaul legislation passed by the House in early June.

Addressing speculation that Stevens may try to divide the bill and attach it to different appropriations bills, Sutherland replied, “If he's doing that, it's news to me.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed a procedural "hold" on the bill and vowed to block it until it contains strong network neutrality provisions to keep Internet providers from creating so-called high speed lanes and offering favored customers faster service for a price.

"We would like the opportunity to get the bill up and let Wyden offer an amendment," Sutherland said. "If we don't get a bill up at all, there's no net neutrality."

Meanwhile, Tuesday's hearing exposed deep fissures on other matters when Stevens expressed concern about Martin's plan for so-called reverse auctions.

Under the approach, telecom carriers capable of offering service with the lowest upfront costs would be eligible for subsidies under the universal service fund, which subsidizes telecom offerings in rural and impoverished areas.

Stevens warned that rural carriers have "serious concerns" about the idea because they fear that national carriers will enter their markets with low-overhead wireless services and win over their subsidies.

Martin countered that his plan would "develop a system that encourages the most efficient technology." But Stevens was not buying that argument and declared that "existing local providers are going to be wiped off the map -- quick."

Martin also drew criticism from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who accused him of favoring large companies over consumers regarding rules for media ownership and network neutrality.

Boxer accused the FCC of spiking a 2004 report on the benefits of locally produced television news to communities. Martin, a commissioner at the time, said he was not aware of the report but would look into it.

Martin also faced tough questioning from Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., over media ownership and appeared to backtrack on his earlier positions.

The FCC chief supported a 2003 agency decision to dramatically loosen those rules. But on Tuesday, given increases in consolidation, Martin said he is no longer comfortable with the decision.

He recently announced that the agency would conduct six public hearings as it embarks on a court-ordered review of the 2003 decision regarding the concentration of media ownership.

The hearing also reviewed the appointment of John Kneuer, acting assistant chief of the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to head the agency. NTIA advises the White House on communications policy.

While Martin was the focus of the hearing, Boxer criticized Kneuer for failing to provide the launch date of a $1 billlion grant program to foster cross-jurisdictional communications for emergency responders.

Boxer instructed Kneuer to provide the date within a week, warning, "We don't have time here."