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The Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006 was a bill in the US House of Representatives.[1] It was part of a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 being considered by the US Congress. The Act was sponsored by Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Rep. Charles Pickering (R-Miss.) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.).
Contents |
Overview
The last version of the Act (HR 5252)[2] included network neutrality provisions defined by the FCC. An amendment offered by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would have supplemented these with a prohibition against service tiering, which would have prevented Internet service providers charging consumers more money in exchange for not reducing their Internet speed. The COPE Act was passed by the full House on June 8, 2006; the Markey Amendment failed[3][4] leaving the final bill without meaningful network neutrality provisions.
The US Senate was also involved in the issue. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Internet Nondiscrimination Act of 2006, and Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) were expected to introduce a bipartisan amendment supporting Net Neutrality when the Senate takes up its own rewrite (the "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006", aka S. 2686) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996[5] later that year.
Supporters
Critical sites
References
- Library of Congress. Senate Report 109-355 29 Sep. 2006 Document, description of the Communications Act of 2006
- Library of Congress. H.R.5252-RS - 29 September 2006 - 109-355 Communications Act of 2006 (text of the proposed legislation)
- Library of Congress. H.R.5252 - All Congressional Actions w/Amendments All speeches, amendments on the House Floor, 1 May 2006 through 29 September 2006 (ongoing)
See also
- Communications Act of 1934
- Telecommunications Act of 1996
- Telecommunications Act of 2005 (Communications Act of 2006)
Notes
- ^ 9/29/2006 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 652. See References.
- ^ Now the Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunities Reform Act or the Act of 2006 -- and has another entry here as the Telecommunications Act of 2005
- ^ Final vote results for Roll Call 239 - XML
- ^ U.S. House of Representatives. Roll no. 239 8 June 2006
- ^ A common notion expressed throughout related pages -- that this Bill is a 'rewrite' of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
External links
- "House Rejects Net Neutrality",by John Nichols, The Nation, June 9, 2006
- "Defeat for Net Neutrality Backers",by Tom Lasseter, BBC, June 9, 2006.
- Full text of COPE 2006 (pdf)
- U.S. House Record of the Roll Call Vote on the Markey Amendment
- WashingtonWatch.com page on H.R. 5252: The Communications Act of 2006
