The internet is the largest functional anarchic organisation ever devised. No single entity owns the Net nor can dictate what content can be passed through it. Few (if any) laws in any country dictate the variety of uses of the Net.
The ‘First Amendment’ of the Net is the concept of ‘network neutrality.’ Network neutrality is the voluntary, but core guiding principle of the Net, meaning that the operators of network segments must not discriminate against the type or use of data packets which pass through the network. So far, the voluntary system of neutrality has been honored by the majority of network providers around the world. The net functions because all carriers agree to pass all packets from all other carriers.
American internet service and hosting providers- mainly large telephone companies- are now attempting to assert legal control over traffic on the Net to their advantage. The fatcats’ idea is to slow or completely block data which does not benefit their business models.
Without network neutrality, VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services (i.e. Skype) will be blocked by those telcos which want to sell their own VOIP services or which which wish to protect their own wireline voice services from competition. Carriers can also block content with which they don’t agree. In example, Telus, a Canadian service provider, recently blocked traffic to the Canadian Telecommunications Workers’ Union‘s website while a labor dispute was in progress. A North Carolina ISP, Madison River Communications, blocked VOIP packets from Vonage.
Bloggers would be among the most adversely affected by revokation of neutrality in network services, particularly if the carrier disagrees with the content a blogger has published. Innovation in new kinds of applications which employ the net would be crushed if neutrality is not enforced.
I’m generally opposed to regulating the Net in any way. However, if massive corporations insist upon implementing plans for unfair control of network traffic, the time for laws prohibiting them from doing so is right now.
-weez
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It had to happen.
Someone notices there are 30 million blogs and thinks “if we got a dollar a week from each one … that would be .. ah … a lot of money”.
Comment by brownie 05.08.06 @ 9:52 pmbrownie, it already costs about 12 times more than that to keep mgk & SHAO on the air. The problem is that AT&T wants to charge me much a premium carriage fee- or block anyone connecting to us via their pipes. Some moron at AT&T thinks that everyone else is using their facilities for free.
Lies & greed from corporate America, film @ 11.
Comment by weez 05.08.06 @ 10:51 pmLeave a comment
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