on the langalist

["Brian Loe" <knobdy () gmail com>]

> From LangaList (the snopes link is pretty good too):

4) "Network Neutrality"

   Fred: Maybe you can enlighten me and hopefully many others with a
   *non-partisan* appraisal of the following question.  What is
   *Network Neutrality*, and is it something we [et all] need to be
   aware of, and monitor the evolution?  I reference:
   http://civic.moveon.org/alerts/savetheinternet.html
   Once again, thanks from a very satisfied reader, now and in
   advance.  --Sam Lyckholm

   Fred, If deemed appropriate for your newsletter, how about
   putting in your 2 cents about the subject of Network Neutrality.
   ---Tom Randolph

Well, the issue is real, as buttressed by a note from another reader:

   FRED: ESSENTIAL READING I thought you might find the following
   article from snopes.com interesting:
   http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/neutrality.asp  ---
   Donavon Rutledge

We've already seen a hint of this  in AOL's use of "GoodMail" (
http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-02-13.htm#4 ), where email senders
can pay to get preferred handling by AOL's mail filters. If you don't pay,
your mail gets processed more slowly and--- gee, we're sorry!--- might get
tossed as spam. Many, including me, view GoodMail as a form of extortion.

The "network neutrality" debate extends the same concept to the web and net
at large: Customers and site owners on certain portions of the internet---
say, ISP "X's" network, for example--- might get their bits delivered
faster and more reliably than those that originate outside of X's network
or that don't pay a special handling fee to X.

If this is allowed to happen, the open and egalitarian nature---the
"neutrality"--- of the net will be reduced or eliminated; and we'll instead
have a tiered system where you'll pay not just to access the net, but to
determine how well you want your data bits to be handled. If you don't or
can't pay for premium service, your bits fall to the bottom tier: digital
steerage.

If companies were adding new, faster, better services for which you could
opt to pay extra, that'd be one thing. But this is retroactively gating and
tiering essentially the same service we have today. It's just a way for a
few large companies to make more money from existing customers and traffic.

Alas, under the current US administration's "profits above people" approach
to nearly everything--- if it makes someone rich, it must be good, right?--
- there's an excellent chance that tiered service will become a reality,
and you'll have to pay more if you want your web experience to be the same
as it is today.

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