Larry Downes: “A Legislative Solution For Net Neutrality May Be Close” (Forbes)

In May, at a Senate Committee hearing on broadband infrastructure at which Larry (new window)Downe (new window)s (new window) testified, ranking Democrat Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) signaled strong support for a legislative solution to the seemingly intractable “net neutrality” problem, which has distracted Internet users, ISPs and content providers for over a decade. Nelson agreed with a growing number of tech providers and their investors here in Silicon Valley that “certainty and finality” for “enforceable net neutrality rules,” which have become a regulatory football regularly fumbled between the agency and the federal courts, can only be achieved through legislation. But not now. Nelson went on to say that it was “pretty clear that the climate just isn’t right at the moment for a legislative solution that would lead to real, substantive legislation that would garner sufficient bipartisan support.” Read more (new window).