Congressman Eric Massa to introduce legislation designed to prevent Job Killing Broadband Internet Caps; Freshman Congressman will fight to prevent high priced burden on families

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

CORNING, NY – Today Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) announced officially that he is drafting legislation designed to prevent job killing broadband internet downloading caps. The Massa Broadband Internet Fairness Act would prohibit unfair tiered price structures from internet providers. The bill will also address the importance of helping broadband providers create jobs and increase their bandwidth while increasing competition in areas currently served by only one provider.

“I am taking a leadership position on this issue because of all the phone calls, emails and faxes I’ve received from my district and all over the country,” said Congressman Eric Massa. “Time Warner has announced an ill-conceived plan to charge residential and business broadband fees based on the amount of data they download. They have yet to explain how increased internet usage increases their costs.”

Regarding Time Warner’s 4/9/09 statement, Rep. Massa had this to say:

“Time Warner’s decision has the potential to more than triple customers’ current rates and I think most families will find this to be too taxing to afford. Time Warner believes they can do this in Rochester NY, Greensboro NC, Austin TX and San Antonio TX, and it’s almost certainly just a matter of time before they attempt to overcharge all of their customers. And while I favor a business’s right to maximize their profit potential, I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region.”

“At a time when millions of Americans have lost their jobs and businesses are struggling, I am compelled to fight against additional, unnecessary burdens placed on my constituents.”

In the past week, there has been a significant uproar in the Rochester, NY area regarding Time Warner’s announcement that they will “test market” a plan to charge customers based on how much they download. The initial proposal was to introduce a 5, 10, 20, or 40 gb/month downloading cap. If customers went over the cap, they would start mounting additional fees.

Then today Time Warner announced a new tiered plan similar to the previous one. However, for a consumer to receive the same unlimited internet that they currently do for around $40 per month, they would be billed $150 per month under the new plan.

In addition to this excessive and disproportionate charge, as internet usage increases by an average of 50% per year, companies setting caps sets a horrible, long-term, precedent. At a time when Americans need to utilize all available assets to improve the economy, limiting internet usage, which this plan would do, handicaps our ability to compete on the global stage. Furthermore, it will have significant stifling effects on start ups and small businesses.

This would also have significant impacts on the agricultural, medical, and educational communities. Farmers are increasingly dependent upon constant exchanges of GPS information to control all aspects of their operations. Medical professionals are increasing their data transfer rates, and patients rely on their ability to continue doing so unimpeded. Finally, educational institutions use more bandwidth every year. In Western New York, students at RIT’s School for the Deaf, who use video transfer software to communicate, would be greatly disadvantaged by Time Warner’s proposal.

As soon as the drafting of the Broadband Internet Fairness Act is completed, it will become available.