On April 22 2008 the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a full committee hearing on that popular current topic ‘The Future of the Internet’. Amongst those testifying were Kevin Martin of the FCC and Larry Lessig of Stanford.
A RealVideo webcast is available which isoc-ny has transcoded to mp3 for convenience.
The Future of the Internet
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
10:00 AM
The hearing will focus on developing applications, consumer expectations, and network operation.
Majority
Daniel K. Inouye
Opening Remarks
Panel 1
The Honorable Kevin J. Martin
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
Panel 2
Ms. Michele Combs
Vice President of Communications
Christian Coalition of America
Dr. Robert Hahn
Executive Director, Center for Regulatory and Market Studies
American Enterprise Institute
Mr. Patric Verrone
President
Writers Guild of America, West
Ms. Justine Bateman
Actress / Writer / Producer
Mr. Kyle McSlarrow
President and CEO
National Cable & Telecommunications Association
Professor Lawrence Lessig
Stanford Law School
Blogging on the site firedoglake.com on Friday, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) promised that Net neutrality would play a big part in Tuesday’s hearing, and sought to defuse the industry’s argument that regulation would put unnecessary restraints on a fast-growing economy.
“Look, this doesn’t mean we’re going to apply a prescriptive, heavy-handed bureaucratic approach to how network providers are permitted to serve subscribers,” Kerry wrote. “But we need to insist on basic fairness and an open, content-neutral approach to how users can access the backbone of our telecommunications system.”
Legislative efforts in both branches to codify Net neutrality have stalled. After his first attempt was shot down in June 2006, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a milder version of Net neutrality legislation in February with the Internet Freedom Preservation Act.
In the Senate, Snowe and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) introduced a more forceful bill last January, but it has sat in committee since. Snowe is hoping that this Tuesday’s hearing will help reinvigorate the issue.
“It’s certainly still a priority, and I think that given the instances that have occurred last year, that certainly refocuses the tension on the issue,” Snowe’s aide said.
[Source: InternetNews.com]