Date: 2006-06-08
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chairman. I will include my full statement in the RECORD. and I will paraphrase it. The Internet is made of numerous interconnec ted. privately owned networks. It has become the amazing resource it is today without the law on network Internet neutrality. The FCC. in 2005. released four network neutrality principles and they are in this language. H.R. 5252 enacts these network principles into the law. sending a strong anti- or nondiscrimination message to the telecommunications industry. As we listen to the debate. the supporters of the Markey amendment will use these four principles in their rhetoric. but their amendment adds a much different network neutrality principle. The Markey amendment bans residential Internet providers from charging large Internet content providers for maintenance or upgrades based on how much bandwidth they are using. The Markey amendment means higher praises for the consumers. those -of us who pay monthly. while large Internet content providers get a free ride over the portion of the Internet that is the most need for investment. Supporters claim the Internet companies pay for their network. The problem is. with television and video. it requires more bandwidth. They have got to make that investment. Are we going to put it on our constituents individually. or are the people who are making the money going to pay for it? The Internet is made of numerous interconnected privatelyowned networks. and it became the amazing resource it is today without any law on Internet network neutrality. In 2005. the Federal Communications Commission released four network neutrality principles: (1) consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice. (2) consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice. (3) consumers are entitled to connect their choice of safe. legal devices. and (4) consumers are entitled to competition anlorig network. application. service. and content providers. Some people say we need to pass the Markey amendment to prevent blocking of websites or anticompetitive behavior. This is not the case. The (COPE) Act. H.R. 5252. enacts these net neutrality principles into law. sending a strong nondiscrimination message to the telecommunications industry. As we listen to the debate. the supporters of the Markey amendment will use these four FCC principles for their rhetoric. but their amendment adds a much different network neutrality principle. The Markey amendment bans residential Internet providers from charging large Internet content providers for maintenance or upgrades based on how much bandwidth they are using. The Markey amendment means higher prices for consumers while large Internet content providers get a free ride over the portio6i of the Internet that is in most need of investment. Supporters claim that if Internet companies pay their way on. the network we will hurt entrepreneurs. Any website that takes up a lot of bandwidth already has always paid more to Intemet backbone providers if they are putting a lot .of content on the Internet and generating a lot of traffic. Now many of these companies are complaining about paying local Intemet network owners for the use of their networks. The issue for the future is when websites offer highbandwidth services like highdefinition movies. television. and video games from websites. all over the Internet. These applications require guaranteed high quality service. something thats not usually available on the Internet today. To upgrade the "last mile" of broadband to accommodate these new services while keeping consumer prices low. telephone and cable companies may need to offer premium service to large Internet content companies. The Markey amendment bans this commercial arrangement and sends the whole bill to the consumers. Congress should ensure that no Internet service is blocked or degraded by cable or telephone companies. and the COPE Act does just that. This point is so important we should repeat it: the underlying text of the COPE Act puts network neutrality into law for the first time. No anticompetitive discrimination is allowed. The Markey amendment goes much further. and regulates the price of Internet traffic between large network operators and large Internet content providers. A good definition of wisdom is not how much you know. but if you know what you dont know. Most of us do not fully understand how the Internet works on a detailed basis or the financial arrangements that build our networks. The Internet has thrived without Congressional intervention on prices and commercial arrangements. and it will do so in the future. If it aint broke. dont fix it.