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Network neutrality and you...
May. 3rd, 2006 01:39 pmAs most of you know, I don't post to my LJ often, but I thought that this warranted it.
For those of you who aren't aware of it, or who don't know what it means, AT&T and Verizon are currently trying to push a bill through Congress that would essentially eliminate network neutrality. This really shouldn't happen. If this bill, or another one like it goes through, it would give DSL and Cable providers the right to charge businesses more money to allow connections to their websites at faster speeds. If that doesn't make sense to you, read this article:
"How would you feel if I-95 announced an exclusive deal with General Motors to provide a special "rush-hour" lane for GM cars only?"
Eliminating network neutrality would vastly change the playing field of the internet as it is right now. Currently, if Google has a better search engine than Yahoo, more people will go to Google. But if the phone and cable companies get their way, they will be able to make deals with Yahoo to allow faster connections to Yahoo than to Google. Now, instead of going to Google because they have a better search engine, you have to choose between a better search engine and a search engine that will respond to your request faster.
Allowing this bill to go through will stunt innovation on the web, to be replaced by the bigger, better deals that companies can wrangle. And amusingly enough, it looks like the financial services firms (banks, online trading companies and such) are lining up to try and block the AT&T/Verizon deal. They've realized that if the bill goes through, they'll be beholden to the DSL and cable providers for their internet speeds. If another company makes a better deal, Chase's connection speeds might go down, costing Chase customers. Or Chase can pony up the extra bucks for the faster speeds. But then they either have to pay out of their own pockets, or pass the costs to their customers, and again... Lost customers. It's in the best interests of big money companies with presences on the web to keep the status quo going.
If you're interested in doing something about keeping network neutrality going, here's a few sites that you can go to, to find out more.
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?track_referer=706|6784025-iLDqy4V5OqwPPdYCYwo24A
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/35728/
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6067493.html?part=rss&tag=6067493&subj=news
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
For those of you who aren't aware of it, or who don't know what it means, AT&T and Verizon are currently trying to push a bill through Congress that would essentially eliminate network neutrality. This really shouldn't happen. If this bill, or another one like it goes through, it would give DSL and Cable providers the right to charge businesses more money to allow connections to their websites at faster speeds. If that doesn't make sense to you, read this article:
"How would you feel if I-95 announced an exclusive deal with General Motors to provide a special "rush-hour" lane for GM cars only?"
Eliminating network neutrality would vastly change the playing field of the internet as it is right now. Currently, if Google has a better search engine than Yahoo, more people will go to Google. But if the phone and cable companies get their way, they will be able to make deals with Yahoo to allow faster connections to Yahoo than to Google. Now, instead of going to Google because they have a better search engine, you have to choose between a better search engine and a search engine that will respond to your request faster.
Allowing this bill to go through will stunt innovation on the web, to be replaced by the bigger, better deals that companies can wrangle. And amusingly enough, it looks like the financial services firms (banks, online trading companies and such) are lining up to try and block the AT&T/Verizon deal. They've realized that if the bill goes through, they'll be beholden to the DSL and cable providers for their internet speeds. If another company makes a better deal, Chase's connection speeds might go down, costing Chase customers. Or Chase can pony up the extra bucks for the faster speeds. But then they either have to pay out of their own pockets, or pass the costs to their customers, and again... Lost customers. It's in the best interests of big money companies with presences on the web to keep the status quo going.
If you're interested in doing something about keeping network neutrality going, here's a few sites that you can go to, to find out more.
http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?track_referer=706|6784025-iLDqy4V5OqwPPdYCYwo24A
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/35728/
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6067493.html?part=rss&tag=6067493&subj=news
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
