Why The Net Should Stay Neutral

Dino wrote to mention a BBC opinion piece on why tiered Internet setups are a bad idea. From the article: "What is being proposed is more like building two roads into every town and up to every house, one smooth and well-maintained tarmac and the other a dirt track, and then letting Tesco and Waitrose bid for the right to use the good road. This issue just the latest round of a long-running debate about how much government - of whatever type, in whatever country - should be involved in the growth and development of the internet."

Comments

public utility

[goombah99]

Public utuilities are normally regulated. The reasons for that are well established. Companies in the utility markets are not generally are not cherry pick the most profitable customers. Instead for being allowed to operate they are also required to serve the public interest in other matters. That's why you have the public access channel on cable TV , the public alert systems on radio, why rural communities have electricity, and why the power company cant simply shut off the juice to the old/infirm without certain procedures. Some of those Odious fees on your phone bill pay for things like universal 911 connectivity.

We generally strived to avoid two tierer public power or phone service in their early days. Of course deregulation did take place in the phone arena eventually did make sense but only after ubiquitous access had been achieved and was affordable.

So we have to be careful about two tiered proposals for the internet. It might be okay but it should be scrutinized from a public policy perspective not a bussiness perspective.

Re:public utility

[mrchaotica]

Right, including Internet access as it is now. However, this new idea is basically charging both ends of the connection: once to access the network itself, and again to access the host on the other end -- despite the fact that the only point of connecting at all in the first place is to reach that remote host. In other words, it's charging twice for the same thing!

Re:It's already happened

[Baddas]

Yeah that'd be the difference there... Europe vs the US.

Here, we get rock-bottom service at deluxe prices, including the aforementioned limited access.