Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: November 9, 2005 7:50:07 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

[Note:  This item comes from reader Mike Cheponis.  DLH]

November 09, 2005
Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet
<http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/archives/2005/11/ 
feds_may_let_bi.html>
The feds are holding hearings today on a bill that could essentially  
allow big Telcos to hijack the Internet. The law would regulate  
Internet Protocol and broadband services, and it would let the big  
providers block services and net access, and possibly worse as well.

The proposal before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's  
Subcommittee on Telecommunications is rather arcane, and I'll cover  
it in a bit of detail in future blogs. But the gist is clear: It  
would end the era of Internet openness, and give Big Telecom a big  
financial windfall.

Don't believe me? Then maybe you'll believe the person who to a great  
extent invented the Internet, Vincent Cerf.

In written testimony to the committee, Cerf warns: "This bill would  
do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that  
broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain  
kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would  
place broadband operators in control of online activity."

He goes on to say, "Allowing broadband providers to segment their IP  
offerings and reserve huge amounts of bandwidth for their own  
services will not give consumers the broadband Internet our country  
and economy need. Many people will have little or no choice among  
broadband operators for the foreseeable future, implying that such  
operators will have the power to exercise a great deal of control  
over any applications placed on the network."

You can read his full testimony on the Google blog: <http:// 
googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/vint-cerf-speaks-out-on-net- 
neutrality.html>

Ironically, today Cerf is going to receive the Presidential Medal of  
Freedom, along with Robert Kahn, for designing the open protocols  
that underly the Internet. If anyone knows about the implications of  
this bill, it's Cerf --- and the law could go a long way to harm the  
world-changing network he helped create.

Posted by Preston Gralla at 10:14 AM

Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


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