Tuesday, July 17, 2007
What's next for net neutrality?
Over 29,000 comments were submitted to the FCC since they opened their inquiry into net neutrality in March. About 670 additional comments were filed by groups and individual Internet users yesterday, the deadline for responding.IT World has a summary of some of the comments received, including this one:
Bonnie Bennett of California seemed to take a more individual approach in her e-mail to the FCC. "Free, unlimited access to the Internet is the modern-day version of how to educate the citizenry of a well-functioning democracy," she wrote. "Big companies and global corporations care a lot about profits and stockholders but not much about educating citizens."
Even Google and Microsoft have been advocating through the Computer & Communications Industry Association for a net neutrality rule to address the lack of competition among broadband providers:
Broadband providers "insult the commission's expertise by summarily proclaiming
the broadband access market competitive without any specific evidence of
competition," the group said.
The other side of the issue was represented in comments by Hands Off the Internet, an advocacy group representing AT&T Inc., Alcatel-Lucent SA, the American Conservative Union and other organizations:
"There is no current or anticipated content discrimination or service degradation justifying new regulations by the commission," wrote Christopher Wolf, co-chairman of Hands Off the Internet. "Moreover, regulation could well thwart Internet growth and make consumer access unfairly expensive."
Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the World Wide Web in 1989 at CERN weighed in on the side of regulation in an interview in IT World:
I think it's very important to keep an open Internet for whoever you are. This is called Net neutrality. It's very important to preserve Net neutrality for the future.
So, what’s next? Will government regulation be introduced or will the free market be allowed to determine this issue? Based on what I’ve read in the past month or so, I have a feeling that the FCC will advocate the hands-off approach supported by the recent FTC report, which cited existing anti-trust laws and a complaints procedure to protect consumers. Stay tuned….
Related posts:
Time is running out for net neutrality
Federal Trade Commission report on net neutrality
Net neutrality: 21 days left to save the Internet
Monday, July 9, 2007
Time is running out for Net Neutrality
Just 6 days remain in the Federal Communications Commission’s public inquiry into whether it should protect Net Neutrality and the outlook isn’t good. A few weeks ago, the Federal Trade Commission issued a report recommending against legislation to protect net neutrality. The IDC, one of the few big voices actually in favour of net neutrality, is predicting that “regulation around net neutrality will be decided in favor of facilities-based broadband providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast.”Why should you care? According to SaveTheInternet.com:
The consequences of a world without Net Neutrality would be devastating. Innovation would be stifled, competition limited, and access to information restricted. Consumer choice and the free market would be sacrificed to the interests of a few corporate executives.
On the Internet, consumers are in ultimate control — deciding between content, applications and services available anywhere, no matter who owns the network. There's no middleman. But without Net Neutrality, the Internet will look more like cable TV. Network owners will decide which channels, content and applications are available; consumers will have to choose from their menu.
The free and open Internet brings with it the revolutionary possibility that any Internet site could have the reach of a TV or radio station. The loss of Net Neutrality would end this unparalleled opportunity for freedom of expression.
The Internet has always been driven by innovation. Web sites and services succeeded or failed on their own merit. Without Net Neutrality, decisions now made collectively by millions of users will be made in corporate boardrooms. The choice we face now is whether we can choose the content and services we want, or whether the broadband barons will choose for us.
Why should Canadians care? Michael Geist wrote an excellent article in the Toronto Star about Canadian culture and the issue of net neutrality:
Ensuring access is also an important part of the equation, as regulators should preserve the right of Canadians to access the content of their choice on the Internet through net neutrality legislation.
So, if you care, act now while there is still time:
1. Watch the video for a primer on the issue.
2. Learn more. The Digital Nomad has an informative post with links to more information.
3. Sign the petitions at Save the Internet or Neutrality.ca today.
4. Spread the word through your own blog with a post on the topic and with one of these U.S. badges or Canadian badges.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Federal Trade Commission report on Net Neutrality
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued their report on Broadband Connectivity Competition and are warning against legislation to ensure net neutrality.The FTC was unable to find any significant market failure orTo learn more, read my earlier post , or click one of the buttons in the sidebar.
demonstrated consumer harm from conduct by broadband providers.
"Policy makers should be wary of calls for network neutrality regulation simply because we do not know what the net effects of potential conduct by broadband providers will be on consumers," the report states. "Similarly, we do not know what net effects regulation to proscribe such conduct would have on consumers."
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Net Neutrality: 21 days left to save the Internet
When we log on to the Internet, we expect to be able to access any site we want, regardless of whether it is run by a major corporation or a home-based business owner. Net Neutrality means that Internet Service providers cannot discriminate by speeding up or slowing down access to Web content based on its source, ownership or destination.The largest telecommunications companies want to be able to regulate what we access, including the ability to block their competitor’s sites and to tax content providers to guarantee the speed of delivery of their content.
Save the Internet is a movement in the U.S., urging citizens to tell Congress to preserve Net Neutrality and help ensure that the benefits and promise of the Internet are available to all Americans.
In Canada, Michael Geist has set up a petition at Neutrality.ca urging the Canadian government to stand up and protect the future of the Canadian Internet.
While the definition of net neutrality is open to some debate, at the core is the commitment to ensuring that Internet service providers treat all content and applications equally with no privileges, degrading of service or prioritization based on the content's source, ownership or destination.What you can do:
1. Watch the video for a primer on the issue.
2. Learn more. The Digital Nomad has an informative post with links to more information.
3. Sign the petitions at Save the Internet or Neutrality.ca today.
4. Spread the word through your own blog with a post on the topic and with one of these U.S. badges or Canadian badges.
Act now - there are only 21 days left to preserve a free and open Internet!
