American Buddhist Net

by Wendy Davis, Friday, May 9, 2008 6:45 AM ET

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced a net neutrality bill Wednesday that would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or degrading access to any "lawful content."

"It shall be unlawful for any broadband network provider ... to block, to impair, to discriminate against, or to interfere with the ability of any person to use a broadband network service," states the proposed measure, The Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (H.R. 5994).

The bill would allow ISPs to manage traffic, provided they don't discriminate between their own content and content by unaffiliated companies. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) is co-sponsoring the legislation.

Net neutrality advocates like Free Press, Public Knowledge, MoveOn.org and the Open Internet Coalition cheered the proposal. "We believe it is a positive step ... and will help ensure the Internet will be protected and remain open for all Americans," said Markham Erickson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition, in a statement.

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