Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006

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The "Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006" is a bill in the US House of Representatives.^[1] It is part of a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 being considered by the US Congress. The COPE Act is 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.).

1 Overview
2 Notes
3 External links
- 3.1 Supporters
- 3.2 Critical sites
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Overview

The current version of the COPE Act (HR 5252)^[2] includes 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 (the consumer's choice to pay more to get more). 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 is also involved in the issue. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has introduced the Internet Nondiscrimination Act of 2006, and Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) are 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 this year.

[edit] 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 "Communications 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.

[edit] External links

"Senate panel rejects Net neutrality amendment", Reuters,June 28, 2006

"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

[edit] Supporters

AT&T
Verizon

[edit] Critical sites

[edit] 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)