US net neutrality law unlikely in 2008

Legislation to enforce the principle of "net neutrality" in the US is unlikely to proceed this year, cable executives have been told.

Consumer groups, backed by some legislators, want service providers to be prevented by law from interfering with their customers' connections to internet content.

Analysis released last week by the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, in Germany, appeared to confirm that US cable providers Comcast and Cox Communications were blocking some traffic for the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol.

A "net neutrality" law has been proposed in Washington, but policymakers at the Cable Show 2008 industry event said it was unlikely to proceed in the short term.

An aide to Sen Herb Kohl, chairman of the judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, said he did not think there was consensus on the issue yet.

Amy Levin, another senior counsel on Capitol Hill, said another bout of publicity over the issue may "increase the impetus for Hill action". She said: "What happens from here depends on what happens in the marketplace."

The advisers said service providers should inform their customers of what intervention practices they were using.