Network Neutrality - 04/20/06 10:52 PM
Anyone heard of/know anything about Network Neutrality ?
I saw something about it in a friend's blog, but hadn't heard of it before.
Seems like it's a hot-button topic in certain areas, though.
Basically, the idea is that all websites should be treated equally; your (broadband) ISP shouldn't be allowed to give bandwidth priority to (or withhold it from) certain sites. Bandwidth priority is a huge deal. If a site loads too slowly, it'll lose a lot of visitors.
There seem to be a number of variations when you get down to details.
One of th main worries is that ISPs could take money to alter bandwidth priority. One company could pay to have its pages load faster than those of its competitors. This would severely impact, for example, small businesses and local charities who couldn't afford to pay enough to keep up.
Another worry is politics. ISPs could effectively block sites with adjendas they don't agree with. If they decide, for example, that it's in the company's interest to have a certain law passed, they could give priority to sites promoting the law and take it from sites which argue against it.
Basically, we're talking about the ability to affect free speech and open commerce. Websites, perhaps entire movements, could rise and fall at the will of AOL.
There's also the possibility that sites like this one would end up suffering... If everyone else starts paying for priority, there will be a lot less bandwidth left over for personal sites, fan pages, etc.
Congress is, I've heard, debating a law that would require neutrality. It would make it illegal to prioritize bandwidth (or, at the least, to prioritize it in certain ways or for certain reasons... like I said, there seem to be a number of variations).
As you'd expect, the big ISPs are against it, saying they can police themselves well enough.
Others, like Amazon, Google, and various activist groups, are, of course, for the law. Even Microsoft signed this petition .
Anyone know what the latest is? Any thoughts on the issue?
Paul
I saw something about it in a friend's blog, but hadn't heard of it before.
Seems like it's a hot-button topic in certain areas, though.
Basically, the idea is that all websites should be treated equally; your (broadband) ISP shouldn't be allowed to give bandwidth priority to (or withhold it from) certain sites. Bandwidth priority is a huge deal. If a site loads too slowly, it'll lose a lot of visitors.
There seem to be a number of variations when you get down to details.
One of th main worries is that ISPs could take money to alter bandwidth priority. One company could pay to have its pages load faster than those of its competitors. This would severely impact, for example, small businesses and local charities who couldn't afford to pay enough to keep up.
Another worry is politics. ISPs could effectively block sites with adjendas they don't agree with. If they decide, for example, that it's in the company's interest to have a certain law passed, they could give priority to sites promoting the law and take it from sites which argue against it.
Basically, we're talking about the ability to affect free speech and open commerce. Websites, perhaps entire movements, could rise and fall at the will of AOL.
There's also the possibility that sites like this one would end up suffering... If everyone else starts paying for priority, there will be a lot less bandwidth left over for personal sites, fan pages, etc.
Congress is, I've heard, debating a law that would require neutrality. It would make it illegal to prioritize bandwidth (or, at the least, to prioritize it in certain ways or for certain reasons... like I said, there seem to be a number of variations).
As you'd expect, the big ISPs are against it, saying they can police themselves well enough.
Others, like Amazon, Google, and various activist groups, are, of course, for the law. Even Microsoft signed this petition .
Anyone know what the latest is? Any thoughts on the issue?
Paul