House committee nixes 'Net Neutrality

The House Energy and Commerce Committee overwhelmingly approved a bill to allow national video franchises but defeated an amendment that would have prevent broadband service providers from offering tiered or premium services.

By a vote of 34-22, the committee rejected the net neutrality amendment put forth by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and backed by major Silicon Valley companies including Amazon.com, Microsoft, Google, eBay and Yahoo!. Markey’s amendment came under fire from both cable and telecom service providers, who said it would serve to stymie investment in networks to deliver advanced services.

The final vote on the bill was 42-12.

Multiple other amendments were considered by the network neutrality issue was by far the hottest. In addition to the Internet giants an unlikely coalition of consumer groups is mounting a “Save the Internet” campaign that shows no sign of going away.

Washington insiders credited House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) with shepherding his video franchise bill to the floor without the network neutrality language.