On the one hand, it looks like a Republican, Marsha Blackburn, has a bill.
On the other hand, it looks like it sucks. From those fire breathing leftists at Mashable:
Republicans are coming out with a 'net neutrality' plan that will only please internet providershttp://mashable.com/2017/12/19/republic ... kcH7oGcOqpThe bill means the FCC would be required to enforce some elements of net neutrality. Under the new bill, internet providers would not be able to block websites or throttle internet speeds, which are the most basic rules that open internet supporters advocate for.
It would, however, leave the door open for internet providers to begin segmenting their networks and begin charging content providers like Google, Facebook, and other companies for better access to users.
Net neutrality advocates have warned that allowing internet providers to manipulate their networks would effectively destroy the internet, hurting entrepreneurs and passing on higher costs to consumers.
The bill is being championed by Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who has previously introduced net neutrality-related legislation.
She gave her first interview on the bill to Breitbart.com, claiming that the bill will "settle the net neutrality debate" and "codify the rules of a free and open internet."
[snip]
A copy of a synopsis of the bill provided to Mashable gave some details on the bill. According to the synopsis, the new bill would amend the Communications Act
and leave in place much of the FCC's changes voted in last week.It will also define "reasonable network management practices," a term that is used to reference how internet providers are allowed to manipulate their network so that internet traffic flows efficiently.
Under the bill, the FCC would enforce these rules but also be explicitly prevented from stopping internet providers from creating fast lanes. The Federal Trade Commission is currently tasked with overseeing those kinds of business dealings and would continue to do so under the bill.
More broadly, if the legislation passed the House of Representatives and the Senate,
it would put into law the changes recently made by the FCC. Those changes would be difficult to undo in the future.
[snip][end]
Like I said, it's a real mixed bag. Will reverse some of the changes the FCC made. But will also codify into law and make harder to reverse, some of their other changes. It does not restore what most Net Neutrality advocates view as the core of all the principles of network neutrality.
P.S. I hate when people say Obama put Net Neutrality in place in 2015. No, he didn't. The FCC has always had a mission under Universal Service provisions. It's been there since the 1930s. And it's been enforcing some version of net neutrality since, well, the Interwebz came to be. The 2015 Obama era rules were merely codifying more formally some things the FCC had always been enforcing, but they did so because those principles were under attack, by conservatives.
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