Network Neutrality Could Divide Hollywood, Dems

NET NEUTRALITY COULD DIVIDE HOLLYWOOD, DEMS
[SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, AUTHOR: Brooks Boliek]
The debate over network neutrality threatens to drive a wedge between Hollywood and its traditional Democratic allies. Proponents of government action to preserve the open character of the Internet contend that the issue is nonpartisan, but it has been mostly Democrats who have pursued it. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) has made the issue a priority. The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's telecommunications and Internet subcommittee has introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which would ensconce the network neutrality principles into law. Meanwhile, Federal Communications Commission members Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, both Democrats, have been more vocal about the need for commission action than the Republicans on the panel. MPAA chief Dan Glickman decried government regulation of the Internet during his ShoWest speech in Las Vegas on the same day that the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee took up the issue of network neutrality. While committee chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said he doesn't think new legislation is needed, he made it clear Tuesday that net neutrality calls out for vigorous antitrust enforcement.
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