House Judiciary Net Neutral Hearing April 25

http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/netneutralitymedadv42405.pdf

Telecom and Antitrust Task Force Hearing Tuesday
on Network Neutrality

What: Oversight Hearing entitled, “Network Neutrality:
Innovation, Competition and Nondiscriminatory Access”
Who: Telecom and Antitrust Task Force – Rep. F. James
Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.), Chairman

When: 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Where: 2141 Rayburn Building

THIS HEARING IS EXPECTED TO EXPLORE...
. What is “net neutrality?”
. Does net neutrality promote innovation and
competition?
. Can broadband service providers “control” access to
the Internet?
. Have broadband providers engaged in illegal or
discriminatory conduct in violation of net
neutrality principles?
. How have recent legal and regulatory developments
affected competition for broadband
services?
. How can broadband providers abuse their market power
to limit access to Internet
content? Do they have an economic incentive to do so?
. How would access-tiering affect the competitive
landscape of the telecommunications
market or the open architecture of the Internet?
. How does recent consolidation in the
telecommunications marketplace affect broadband
access?
. Can a network provider effectively manage network
access or should a statutory
definition of network neutrality be adopted by
Congress? What restrictions, if any,
should be placed on the network provider to ensure a
competitive marketplace?
. What current authority exists to protect net
neutrality?
. Would legislative proposals being considered by
Congress promote or undermine net
neutrality?
. What is the role of antitrust in preventing Internet
“discrimination”?
WITNESSES: Mr. Paul Misener, Vice President of Global
Public Policy, Amazon.com; Mr. Earl W.
Comstock, President and CEO, COMPTEL; Mr. Walter B.
McCormick, President and CEO, United
States Telecom Association; and Mr. Timothy Wu,
Professor of Law, Columbia Law School.