Congress moves swiftly on net neutrality

With the election over Congress is moving quickly on the net neutrality issue, and is planning to introduce a bill in January.

Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democratic senator, and Olympia Snowe, a Republican senator from Maine, have announced plans to introduce the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which will make it illegal for ISPs to discriminate against content online.

"Some broadband providers have discussed plans to start acting like gatekeepers on the world wide web, deciding which content can get through to consumers and which content providers could get special deals, faster speeds and better access to the consumer," said Dorgan.

"This [new] legislation would ensure that broadband service providers do not discriminate against internet content, applications or services by offering preferential treatment. This issue is also often referred to as 'net neutrality'."

President-elect Barrack Obama has already said that he strongly supports the issue of net neutrality, and the bill will be an early test of the new Democratic Party majority's ability to set the legislative agenda.

Meanwhile, telecoms companies are likely to mobilise over an issue that they see as crucial to their ability to increase revenues from customers and manage their networks.

Comcast is currently suing the Federal Communications Commission over its decision to censure the company for throttling bandwidth without informing its customers.