Broadcast flag makes it through committee

6/28/2006 10:20:45 AM, by Eric Bangeman

If the broad rewrite of US telecommunications laws (the Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006) that we have been reporting on for the past several days makes it to the Senate floor, it will include the broadcast flag. Despite objections voiced by Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has left both the audio and video broadcast flags unmolested.

If the bill makes it to the full Senate, it will therefore contain the broadcast flags. However, individual senators would still be able to offer amendments to the legislation that would remove the controversial flags. Sen. Sununu has indicated he might do exactly that.

The Commerce Committee will continue running down the bill, amendment by amendment, with network neutrality next on the list. Once they have finished marking up the bill, Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) still has to make the call on whether to send it to the full Senate for a vote. Right now, he's undecided, as he believes it is doubtful the bill's proponents could muster the 60 votes necessary to stop a possible filibuster.




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http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060628-7151.html