(WASHINGTON) - By a vote of 269-152, the U.S. House of Representatives today turned away efforts to enact federal neutrality regulations over the Internet.

The following comment may be attributed to Mike McCurry, co-chairman of the Hands Off The Internet coalition (www.handsoff.org):

“With today’s vote, bipartisan common sense won out over the bottom lines of a few big online companies. The Google-eBay-Microsoft lobbying effort failed because of the inherent and obvious flaw of ‘neutrality’ regulations: They would dramatically shift the cost of building tomorrow’s Internet onto the backs of consumers.

“America has vital economic and social needs for affordable high-speed access. Today’s bipartisan House vote is a clear signal that Members recognize the country’s economic need to deploy new network systems without costly new Washington-mandates.

“Tilting the cost burden onto end users, which would be the inevitable result of neutrality regulations, will only delay much-needed broadband deployment.”

The Hands Off The Internet coalition is a Washington, DC-based coalition of companies and non-profit organizations that believe the Internet has flourished because government has not tried to regulate it. Members include Alcatel, AT&T, the National Association of Manufacturers, FiberControl, and Cinergy Communications. Non-profit members include the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, the American Conservative Union and the National Black Chamber of Commerce.