Senator Strimling was able to get a good number of co-signers, and will probably get a few more to sign on in the next few days. Net neutrality has been getting discussed here in Maine over the last few weeks after Senator Strimling announced his plan to introduce net neutrality legislation. Here's some text from an editorial published in the Bangor Daily News on Feb. 28th regarding Senator Strimling's bill.

Democratic state Sen. Ethan Strimling is preparing to introduce legislation to support Net neutrality- a concept that seeks to protect the free market of the Internet from prohibitive-tiered pricing schemes by the corporations that control it. Strimling's legislation comes at a pivotal time, as the national political equilibrium has been jarred in the last several elections by the emergence of online media. The use of blogs, social networking, and other technologically progressive means of message distribution has allowed a larger number of voices to be heard by elected officials, and it has allowed tech-savvy candidates to distribute their message to a much broader audience for far less money than ever before. The Maine political scene is just now awakening to the need to compete in this realm, and the slow start by both sides has resulted in two parties increasingly focused on making up for lost time. This is a very positive development for the citizens of Maine, and it underscores the necessity of a free and open Internet to the continuing evolution of political and social dialogue.

The concept of Net neutrality has been chalked up to an obscure left versus right debate on the national stage, but the implications of the recent lapse in the federal government's protection of the Internet as an open network are specifically pertinent to Maine's fight for a viable economic future. Maine's successful emergence from the shadow of a crumbling factory- and natural resource-based economy is predicated on its ability to compete in the digital marketplace. The promise of the Internet economy for Maine is the ability to offer products and services that can be distributed without regard to locality and that create jobs without compromising the social and environmental uniqueness of our state. This promise is reliant not only on an open Internet, but also on the free exchange and debate that an open Internet encourages.

The possibility exists today that the dialogue both parties are engaging in with their constituents via the Internet could be dramatically influenced by the decisions of large corporations that control Internet access. This means that the Maine GOP's recent YouTube programming to educate citizens on their education proposals, or the Maine Democrats' recent attempts to engage a younger demographic through the popular social network MySpace, could both face arbitrary cost barriers based on the fickle whims of telecom corporate leaders. The potential result is a stifled debate on the issues that most profoundly affect the voters of Maine. Or, an even more alarming prospect: deliberately imposed costs meant to reduce the effectiveness of a particular group's message.

As this points out and as we all know, this isn't a partisan issue. This isn't a Democratic or Republican issue, it's something that will effect everyone. Lance Dutson, the author of the op-ed, runs the website Maine Internet Freedom as well as Maine Web Report. It's interesting to point out that Dutson is a conservative blogger.

As this legislation makes it way through the State House in Augusta, i'll be sure to keep the community informed. I'll have the full text of the bill within a day or two and will be posting it as soon as I have it. It's going to be interesting to watch this here in Maine, as it could have an effect on other states that may consider proposing their own net neutrality legislation.

I'd like to point out that the author of this bill, Senator Ethan Strimling, was one of the sponsors to a bill passed over 4 years ago that put Maine on the record as being the first state to oppose the Iraqi war. Senator Strimling has made his intentions clear that he plans on running for the soon to be vacant 1st Congressional District seat, currently held by Tom Allen (who more than likely will seek a shot at the Senate seat versus Susan Collins).

Also for those of you from Maine, head on over to TurnMaineBlue.com where you can find some information on what you should do to insure this bill makes it past the Utilities and Energy commission