U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) today put the issue of Net neutrality back on the Congressional agenda with a measure they called the Internet Freedom Preservation Act.

The bill prohibits broadband service providers from discriminating against Internet content, applications or services by offering preferential treatment, or setting up service tiers.

In her statement on the measure, Snowe said she believes the tide has turned and that opposition to Net neutrality from telecom cable companies will not overcome the measure this time around.

“Today's reintroduction of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act marks another step toward ensuring the fate of the Internet lies in the hands of its users and not the hands of a few gatekeepers,” Snowe said, in a prepared statement. “The tide has turned in the debate between those who seek to maintain equality and those who would benefit from the creation of a toll road on the Internet super highway. The reintroduction of this legislation and the FCC's imposition of Net neutrality conditions as part of the AT&T-BellSouth merger, are significant victories in the fight to ensure nondiscrimination on the Internet, and I look forward to continuing that fight along side Senator Dorgan in the new Congress.”

Both Verizon and AT&T, which had made Net neutrality concessions to get its acquisition of BellSouth through the FCC, were quick to denounce the new measure.

“It’s unfortunate that at a time when the U.S. ranks 11th behind South Korea in broadband deployment, precious time is being spent on legislation that will impede, not increase America’s standing,” said Tim McKone, AT&T’s executive vice president of federal relations, in a prepared statement. “We continue to believe that Net neutrality regulations are unwarranted, and remain hopeful that lawmakers will pivot their efforts toward support of a National priority to deploy more advanced broadband to more Americans more quickly.”

Peter Davidson, Verizon senior vice president for federal government relations, said in his prepared statement that while his company “supports and protects consumers’ rights to full Internet…Net neutrality--better named Net regulation--is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. We expect a robust debate. In the end, most policymakers will focus on how to increase broadband deployment, and wonder how Net regulation advances that goal. It’s ironic that this bill is introduced at the same time the Consumer Electronics Show is filling the news with broadband-enabled innovations. There is a ‘disconnect’ between consumers’ desires for new products and services and the stifling effects of this bill. Turning to Net regulation at this point would be a huge step backward.”

The bill, which was co-sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), is given a better chance in the Democratically controlled Congress.

Consumer organizations applauded the Dorgan-Snowe measure.

Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America, said it is the next appropriate step for Net neutrality following the AT&T-BellSouth agreements.

“The largest broadband provider in the country has committed to a clearly defined Net neutrality condition,” he said in a statement. “They’ve also agreed to expand their network and offer competitive prices to consumers-demonstrating that neutrality and affordable access are not mutually exclusive.”

It’s important, said Jeannine Kenney, senior policy analyst with the Consumers Union, that the conditions applied to AT&T be applied to other broadband service providers as well and be made permanent.