A sweeping overhaul of the Communications Act of 1934 was proposed on the Senate floor Monday, which would reinstate the audio and video broadcast flag, require VOIP traffic to be identifiable, and effectively eliminate analog televisions in a year's time.
The 135-page document, known as the "Communications, Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006," itself contains several subsections known as individual acts. The bill was co-authored by Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Daniel Inouye(D-Hawaii), the chairman and co-chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Although the bill has yet to be debated on the floor of the Senate, let alone be signed into law, it offers yet another glimpse into the issues that concern the legislative branch of the government.
"The measure we introduce today is a working draft intended to stimulate discussion and is open for comments and suggestions for change," Stevens said in floor testimony. "It attempts to strike a balance between competing industries, consumer groups and local government.
"Both Senator Inouye and I may propose additional changes based on comments offered by our Members or interested parties," Stevens added. "We intend to hold two hearings to take testimony on the draft bill and will listen to proposed changes. It's our hope that through a process of collaboration, we can draft a bill that truly represents a bipartisan consensus." 
Follow up:
The bill presses several technological hot buttons:
* Content and the "broadcast flag": The "broadcast flag," which would allow carriers to distinguish and block recording of unauthorized content, is included in the bill, a section dubbed "The Digital Content Protection Act of 2006".
The bill would require the FCC to enforce an existing report and order, FCC 03-273, which would institute the broadcast flag over the American ATSC digital-television network, with a few exceptions: "short excerpts," or content viewed over the Internet"; "distance learning"; news; and digital television redistributed within a person's home via a network.
The bill would also grant Congress the authority to pass laws regulating digital radio and satellite radio. To monitor the audio broadcast flag, the bill would also set up a Digital Audio Review Board, made up of representatives nominated by the cable, satellite radio, audio recording, consumer electronics, software, IT, audio publishing, audio performing, composing, and public interest/consumer organizations. Interestingly, the board's responsibility is to put forward a "proposed regulation" from a "consensus" of the board, to regulate the recording of audio content.
* Televisions: The bill also would add two key aspects to the digital-to-analog conversion process, which is currently set to occur on Feb. 17, 2009.
The first, more minor restriction would force retailers to add an advisory tag to analog televisions no later than 60 days after the bill was signed into law. The "consumer alert," which would be posted in English and Spanish, would read:
"CONSUMER ALERT
"This TV only has an ''analog'' broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009 to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the Nation's transition to digital broadcasting on that date as required by Federal law. It should continue to work as before with cable and satellite TV services, gaming consoles, VCRs, DVD players, and similar products."
The second restriction would effectively hasten the digital-to-analog transition by banning all sales of analog televisions with a screen size greater than 13 inches:
"It is unlawful to sell, or offer for sale, at retail after March 1, 2007, a television set with a picture screen 13 inches or greater in size (measured diagonally) unless that television set is equipped with a tuner capable of receiving and decoding digital signals,"
the bill reads.
Both the advisory notice and the retail restrictions would be assisted by a federally-funded Web site designed to assist consumers with the transition, according to the bill.
* VOIP: On one hand, the bill would encourage telecommunications carriers to use VOIP to cut costs for soldiers in the U.S. armed forces, who wish to call family and friends from their overseas stations.
However, the bill also contains provisions that would force VOIP providers to make such voice traffic identifiable:
"An [sic] provider of voice communications services (including an IP-enabled voice service provider) shall ensure that all traffic that originates on its network contains sufficient information to allow for traffic identification by other communications service providers that transport, transit, or terminate such traffic, including information on the identity of the originating provider, the calling and called parties, and such other information as the Commission deems appropriate,"
the bill reads.
Failing to do this could result in fines, the bill said.
Such a measure would make telecommunications traffic identifiable and blockable, one of the provisions of "net neutrality," or the argument that premium services should not be charged a premium fee. Some executives have already described the difficulties of blocking VOIP traffic, such as Skype.
The bill does address network neutrality, but only in an advisory context. The bill calls for the Federal Communications Commission to prepare annual reports on the relationship of broadband suppliers and online user services, as well as the ability of consumers to access
"lawful content and run Internet applications and services over the public Internet subject to the bandwidth purchased and the needs of law enforcement agencies,"
the bill reads.
Under the bill, VOIP providers would have the same "rights, duties, and obligations" as traditional telecommunications providers.
* Broadband: The bill would eliminate the intrastate/interstate distinction in making phone calls, a key source of revenue for the so-called "universal fund," which helps fund or subsidize telecommunications services into rural areas. A similar "universal broadband fund" would help serve the same purpose, pushing broadband (defined as greater than 200 Kbits/s in one direction) into rural areas. The bill makes clear that satellite broadband services could be subsidized by this.
The bill encourages the use of municipal broadband and would prohibit discrimination based on the community. Interestingly, in a section titled "The Community Broadband Act," the bill encourages public-private partnerships, and gives the private sector "the right of first refusal," allowing a private agency to step in and block a city or county from providing municipal broadband to its residents if the private vendor wishes to do so for the same or lower cost than the municipal agency.
Source: Mark Hachman Extreme VOIP
