The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Monday rejected a proposed compromise on access to high-speed Internet networks and said the effort to pass a broad telecommunications reform bill could fall apart.
Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii said the revised Republican legislation did not go far enough to ensure that Internet network providers cannot discriminate against unaffiliated Web sites or services, an issue known as "Net neutrality."
Inouye also said the Democrats on the committee were worried that the draft bill could help companies evade state consumer protection laws.
"We believe the latest draft of communications legislation marks a further step backward for consumers, and it calls into question our commitment to passing a bipartisan communications reform package in this Congress," Inouye said.
The Senate panel is scheduled Thursday to consider amendments and vote on the measure, which was drafted by Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the panel and an Alaska Republican.
A spokesman for Stevens declined to comment.
A primary purpose of the measure is to help AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. quickly obtain licenses for offering subscription television service, so they can compete against cable companies like Comcast Corp.
Analysts have said passing a telecommunications bill this year could be difficult because of differences within the Senate as well as with the House of Representatives. Another complication is the short legislative session this year due to the November congressional elections.
Stevens offered a compromise last week to try to persuade Democrats on the issue of Net neutrality.
He added a new section aimed at preserving consumers' ability to surf anywhere on the public Internet and to use any Web-based application. But it stopped short of barring network operators from charging for access and service quality.
Content companies like eBay Inc. and Google Inc. are worried that AT&T and Verizon will charge them more to get access to consumers or make it harder for consumers to access unaffiliated content.
The network providers say they would not block access to public Internet sites, but want to use private networks to offer services like movie downloads.
"In the absence of meaningful consumer protections, network operators will have the unfettered capacity to discriminate against unaffiliated online content, degrade their quality of service, or impose steep charges for prioritized traffic," Inouye said.
The Democrats also had problems with provisions that he said would prevent states from protecting consumers from bad billing and marketing practices by wireless telephone carriers and Internet telephone services would also not have to comply with certain state laws.
"For a bill of this importance and impact, consumers deserve far better," he said.
