[JURIST] The US House Judiciary Committee [official website] on Thursday voted 20-13 to approve the full committee markup of the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 [HR 5417 text], the 'net neutrality' bill sponsored by Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). The bill applies federal antitrust law to alleged breaches of 'net neutrality,' or situations where broadband service providers either accept money from content providers in exchange for increased bandwidth, or interfere with the content of broadband competitors.

While one Republican voting against the bill said that the judiciary is best suited to determine how the antitrust laws should apply to broadband providers, other Committee members said they supported the bill not because it is good law, but to establish Judiciary Committee jurisdiction over the net neutrality issue itself. CNET has more.