New money, old debate: Should carriers that take the $7.2 billion allotted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for building broadband networks in underserved and rural areas be required to adhere to network neutrality principles?

The stimulus package approved by Congress already requires recipients of the grants bonanza to follow the Federal Communications Commission's legally challenged network neutrality rules. More ominously for the carriers, though, the law empowers the FCC and the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) to create additional network neutrality rules for carriers accepting stimulus funds.

"It is not only fitting and proper that we should protect the Internet built with taxpayer dollars, it is essential if we are going to honor the dual goals of economic stimulus and public service required by the law," Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott said March 23. "This is the first opportunity for this administration to set a new high-water mark for consumer protection on the Internet."

Speaking at a round-table conference at the Department of Commerce to hash out the details of the broadband funding, Scott added, "Taxpayers put money into infrastructure only insofar as it serves the public interest. This is not a blank check. We are buying a public service from grant recipients with this investment."

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