Congress shaping telecom law in private

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: May 8, 2006 12:37:52 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Congress shaping telecom law in private
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

Congress shaping telecom law in private

Real work will be done in conference committee, where the public has no
influence but lobbyists do.

By Marilyn Geewax
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Sunday, May 07, 2006
<http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/ 
technology/05/7telecom.html>

WASHINGTON — The House and Senate are preparing to vote on
telecommunications legislation that could affect every American who  
surfs
the Internet, watches cable TV or uses a phone.

But no one should waste much time watching the floor debates on C-SPAN.
The lawmakers admit their goal is not to pass definitive legislation in
public in the coming weeks.

Instead, they want to pass separate bills, regardless of how different
they may be. The final version would be negotiated, largely in  
private, by
about a dozen senators and representatives on a conference committee.

The Senate just needs to pass "anything to get us into conference,"  
where
the real decisions will be made, House telecommunications subcommittee
chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said Tuesday at a telecom forum hosted by
National Journal's Technology Daily.

"It's not supposed to work like this," said Celia Wexler, vice president
for advocacy for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "It's
appalling that you can hear a member (of Congress) say that in public."

While most conference negotiations are closed to public view, lobbyists
continue to influence the members and their staffers.

In the case of telecom, the groups say, so many well-financed lobbyists
are involved that they may battle themselves to a standstill, leaving
Congress flush with campaign contributions but unable to agreeon a final
bill before adjournment.

The stakes run into the billions of dollars for the central players,
including cable operators and regional phone giants, such as AT&T  
Inc. and
Verizon Communications Inc., as well as Internet companies, including  
eBay
Inc., Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

The telecom legislation is following a well-worn path that Congress  
often
takes to craft spending, tax and other bills out of public view.

Although Congress has held numerous public hearings on telecom issues  
over
the past year, the legislation's details have been largely worked out in
private.

Several senators and their staffers have complained, off the record,  
that
the process has been closed even to them.The crucial work is being  
done by
top staffers for Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

To some, Congress' handling of an issue known as network neutrality
illustrates the process.

Consumer advocates say that unless Congress spells out tough rules to
ensure that providers of high-speed Internet service treat all Web sites
and services in the same way, cable and phone companies will make  
content
providers pay fees for faster downloads of their sites and services than
nonpayers get.

For example, if Yahoo paid such a fee, its search engine might work more
quickly than Google's. Net neutrality proponents say that would  
change the
free and open nature of the Internet.

Last Monday, Stevens revealed his 135-page draft bill after months of
behind-the-scenes work. The committee is scheduled to consider the bill
June 8, and the full Senate may vote on it before the August recess.

[snip]
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>



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