Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
(last edit 6-2-08 7pm) Net Neutrality is short for Network Neutrality and it represents the future of the Internet in general. Since the World Wide Web (WWW) has come in existence in 1993 it has been based on universal access and the free interchange of information from network provider to network provider.
The Television industries (Broadcast and Cable) have realized that it is a medium that has been in a state of decline while the Internet has continued to grow at a phenomenal rate. A lot of these companies have decided that they need to play a role in how you get to access the Internet. These are the Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
The nation's largest telephone and cable companies -- including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner -- want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won't load at all.
Their ultimate goal would be to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data like they can do with cable today. They want to discriminate in favor of their own search engines, Internet phone services, and streaming video -- while slowing down or blocking their competitors.
Instead of an even playing field, they want to reserve express lanes for their own content and services -- or those from other large service providers that can afford the extra expense -- and leave the rest of us on a less than satisfactory connection.
Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, content type, ownership or destination.
We are starting to see the first examples of these policies. In mid April 2008 Virgin Media CEO (the second largest ISP in the UK) , has started his new position by getting everyone up in arms about the long-debated issue of net neutrality. What net neutrality? he essentially asked. He said that there really is no neutrality, that favoritism for certain companies in the industry is already taking place and that the whole ideal of net neutrality is a bunch of BS. He openly admitted that companies willing to negotiate a way to subsidize the costs of their service will get better bandwidth treatment and those who don’t want to foot the bill can expect to be throttled. As a result of these actions there have been boycotts of Virgin in the UK that have been organized, but it remains to be seen how successful they are. Here is a link.
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As a consumer why should I care? You should care because ultimately what suffers is your freedom of choice. Ultimately if the gatekeepers to the Internet don't want you to use Google for instance because they set up a better deal with Yahoo for instance that content could be slowed or maybe even stopped and redirected to another search engine of their choice. Or you may be forced to pay premiums (they are used to those business models from cable tv remember) It is also conceivable that an independent site like this one, Makeuptalk.com could be slowed or made unavailable by one of those gatekeepers.
Additionally when you consider the other types of traffic traveling over our network connections, Voice over IP (VOIP) is the way your service can be bundled in with your Internet Connectivitiy what happens when that voice traffic starts being handled on a prioritized basis.
In the US a bill has recently been sponsored. Tthe bipartisan “Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008” (HR 5353) was introduced on Feb. 12, 2008 by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chip Pickering (R-Miss.)
This bill would protect Net Neutrality and kick off a much-needed public conversation about the future of the Internet. The new bill fully endorses Net Neutrality -- "the longstanding principle that Internet service providers cannot discriminate against Web sites or services based on their source, ownership or destination" -- into the Communications Act. It also requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to initiate meetings on policies to “promote openness, competition, innovation, and affordable, ubiquitous broadband service for all individuals in the United States.” In the US you can sign a petition in support of Internet Freedom Preservation Act 2008” (HR 5353) at this link.
Big phone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner have been lobbying Congress to kill Net Neutrality bills. They want to exploit their role as a gatekeeper to decide what you can do on the Internet.
I have not found specific statements that McCain or Clinton have made on Net Neutrality but here is an address Obama has made at a speech at Google.
I am currently looking for other information on what is happening in other countries and Australia.
If you have questions or comments feel free to post them.
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
Make sure the candidate you are voting for supports Net Neutrality! A tiered internet will only be detrimental to smaller sites. We should be able to decide on the sites we use and not have to pay a premium for others.
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashley
Make sure the candidate you are voting for supports Net Neutrality! A tiered internet will only be detrimental to smaller sites. We should be able to decide on the sites we use and not have to pay a premium for others.
Thanks Ashley.
Yes and I meant to say. i included Obama's statement because i found it readily. I haven't made my selection yet, but I am pretty sure Clinton (maybe this is a moot point) supports it, but I don't know about McCain.
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
This was McCain's position from last year. I'm looking for something more current. I did find where Clinton supports Net Neutrality, but that may be a moot point.
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Sunday, June 3, 2007 10:34 p.m. EDT
McCain Opposes Net Neutrality
Arizona Sen. John McCain has announced that he opposes "net neutrality."
McCain appeared at the All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif., and said he did not think government regulation of internet service providers to stop them from censoring, slowing down, or otherwise disrupting consumer’s access to the internet in order to stifle competitors or undesirable content was an appropriate solution.
"When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment,” he said, according to TheDailyBackground.com.
Later, McCain said: "I’m all for the government encouraging competition, but I’ve found over time that less government involvement is better.
Evidently this is going to be an issue in canada as well.
What the Canadian Government Really Thinks About Net Neutrality full content is here
Tuesday February 06, 2007
The Canadian Press is out this evening with an important story that reveals the government's true view on net neutrality. Based on do***ents obtained under the Access to Information Act, they provide a clear picture of an Industry Minister and policy makers content to leave the issue alone, despite acknowledging that major telcos such as Bell and Telus are "determined to play a greater role in how Internet content is delivered" and that "they [Bell and Telus] believe they should be the gatekeepers of content, with the freedom to impose fees for their role."
The do***ents were prepared for the Minister in anticipation of questions that might arise after Videotron President Robert Depatie mused publicly about a new tariff or fee for carrying content. The departmental response as contained in a Question Period Card:
"The Internet is not regulated in Canada. There is no regulation of the relationship between Internet service providers and the providers of Internet content. There is currently considerable discussion in the industry about the implications of telecommunications companies who provide network and Interent service taking a greater role in determining how Internet content will be delivered and at what cost, if any. The Telecommunications Policy Review Panel reviewed this issue in its March 2006 report. My department is continuing to examine and assess the recommendations, including the issue of net neutrality, that were made in this report."
While that may be the official line, the do***ents reveal very different thinking behind the scenes. The Question Period Card continues:
"Canadian telecommunications companies, like Bell and TELUS, are increasingly determined to play a greater role in how Internet content is delivered. As the carriers of the content, they believe should be gatekeepers of the content, with the freedom to impose fees for their role. There is considerable debate in the U.S. about the relationship between content providers and Internet service providers. Last summer, telecom companies were successful in gutting a net neutrality law specifying that providers of physical infrastructure could not have any say over the content and services flowing over their networks. Congress is currently reviewing that decision. The question raises complex issues of the interests and benefits to consumers, and businesses. It would be premature at this time to draw any conclusions."
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
and from Australia here is an example of how it will affect you. So unless you paid for Telstra's overpriced service they were deliberating reducing everyone else's service.
Once upon a time there was a huge Australian telco called Telstra. It launched its own Voice over IP service which was lauded far and wide for its excellent sound quality, but users said it was overpriced compared to other VoIP providers.
It then emerged that people were having major problems with glitching and dropouts on Engin and MyNetFone.
Telstra admitted that it had 'rebalanced its network' to give priority to Telstra VoIP calls, while other providers' data would have to to wait in line with all the BitTorrent data packets.
A month or so later, a Voice over IP industry body announced that ongoing analysis had shown that VoIP calls from all providers except Telstra had dropped in quality significantly. Telstra was forced to admit that it had been actively deprioritising other VoIP providers' data.
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
i haven't found much stuff, apparently it's not as much discussed in Europ as it is in the US. but in one recent article (here's the link, for those who can read french), they said the consumer associations and some others are for neutrality. even some internet providers seem in favor of a law promoting neutrality.
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Re: Net Neutrality - What is it? and Why should I care?
Seriously, this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard of. Its bad enough how they jack up prices all the time but now the want to manipulate what we can't and can do on the interent?!
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To Comcast (CMCSA), throttling or degrading the performance of file-sharing services is a necessary traffic-management technique. To the Federal Communications Commission it’s a violation of the agency’s network-neutrality principles. “The commission has adopted a set of principles that protects consumers’ access to the Internet,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Friday. “We found that Comcast’s actions in this instance violated our principles.”
And so the FCC intends to punish the cable giant for its misstep. But rather than fine the company, the Commission would force Comcast to stop interfering with Internet traffic on its network. “We would tell Comcast that they have to stop engaging in that practice,” Martin said. “They have to disclose to the commission where they are engaging in that practice.”
The proposal to sanction Comcast is will be put to a vote on August 1. And if it’s approved it could set a precedent that will inspire other ISPs to rethink their “traffic management” practices.
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