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Network Neutrality — Without Regulation

Posted by timothy on from the but-that's-unpossible dept.

boyko.at.netqos writes "Timothy B. Lee (no relation to Tim Berners-Lee), a frequent contributor to Ars Technica and Techdirt, has recently written 'The Durable Internet,' a paper published by the libertarian-leaning CATO institute. In it, Lee argues that because a neutral network works better than a non-neutral one, the Internet's open-ended architecture is not likely to vanish, despite the fears of net neutrality proponents, (and despite the wishes of net neutrality opponents.) For that reason, perhaps network neutrality legislation isn't necessary — or even desirable — from an open-networks perspective. In addition to the paper, Network Performance Daily has an interview and podcast with Tim Lee, and Lee addresses counter-arguments with a blog posting for Technology Liberation Front."

4 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. In Other News... by dcollins · · Score: 5, Informative

    Another paper by the libertarian-leaning CATO institute also said this: Banks, financial lenders, and mortgage providers "work better" if they are responsible and provide only secure financial investments, and are therefore not likely to enter a worldwide financial meltdown. For that reason, financial oversight legislation is neither necessary nor desirable. QED.

    --
    We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    1. Re:In Other News... by UdoKeir · · Score: 4, Informative

      These very same banks were required, by regulation, to provide bad loans.

      Except that they weren't. Stop repeating these republican blogosphere lies.

    2. Re:In Other News... by Rycross · · Score: 5, Informative

      No it didn't. It said that the location or race of that the person could no longer be considered. That is, banks could no longer red-line (look it up). They could still deny people based on their credit and income. See the wikipedia article on the CRA. The criticisms mostly suggest that the CRA had nothing to do with the crisis. At best, they could point out innuendo (the CRA made banks *feel* like they had to do sub-prime lending) rather than a direct causal link.

  2. Internet service in Ontario by Digital_Quartz · · Score: 3, Informative
    Here in Ontario, I can get high-speed internet from:
    • Rogers (cable), which blocks ports, throttles BitTorrent, VPN, and any encrypted traffic. Rogers also has some stupid "web search on typo" system which breaks DNS.
    • Bell (DSL), which throttles BitTorrent.
    • Many small third party DSL providers, which don't throttle, but Bell controls the last mile for all DSL, and throttles for them.

    So, it's a nice theory, but Ontario (and most of eastern Canada) disproves it nicely.