Category: Internet Neutrality

FCC chair Kevin Martin chimed in with his take on the Internet network neutrality issue:

“We need to make sure we have a regulatory environment (in which network operators) can invest in the network and can recoup their costs,”

The question for Mr. Martin is: why must we throw out the baby with the bathwater? The neutral network has done wonders for spawning innovative use and competition between all sorts of web companies. Taking away network neutrality will essentially lock in the benefit to entities which can afford the increased access speeds.

Martin is already advocating for some kind of “regulatory environment,” so why must it be non-neutral? If driving network investment is the concern, certainly some kind of system to subsidize expansion could serve the same purpose while still maintaining neutrality. While this would be outside the FCC’s scope, Congress has the incredible chance for maintaining and even enhancing our great commons which is the Internet.

Perhaps Martin can find this point somewhere in his somewhat recent (2/10/06) comment on net video competition:

Given all of the benefits that additional competition offers for consumers,
we will continue to closely monitor the progress of all new entrants and
seek to eliminate any unreasonable barriers to entry and to address other
issues that we find impede such progress. [emphasis mine]

Senator Stevens of Alaska held a hearing today about Internet network neutrality evidentally gave the idea a “lukewarm” reception. Is it any wonder? Looking at who was present at the meeting, there is already a clear bias towards the interest of telecommunications corporations. Here’s the witness list:

Mr. Aryeh B. Bourkoff Managing Director, Media – Cable & Satellite, Entertainment Equity & Fixed Income, UBS Investment Research
Mr. Kevin M. Moore Wireline Telecom Analyst, Managing Director, Wachovia Securities
Mr. Craig E. Moffett Vice President and Senior Analyst, U.S. Cable and Satellite, Broadcasting
Mr. Luke T. Szymczak Vice President, JP Morgan Asset Managemen

Take a look at the video archive, but do it before the telecos charge the government more money to stream it! I won’t get into the reasons why net neutrality is a good thing at the moment, but this is certainly an issue to watch.

E-tracking, coming to a DMV near you | Perspectives | CNET News.com

Declan is concerned about the privacy implications of tracking cars on the road. This is a valid concern, but a little-researched knee-jerk reaction of mine is that efforts such as this may compromise one of our greatest assets: the open network of roadways.

When you think of it, roads are a lot like the Internet. Once you pay for a car and gas (or public transporation) you have subsequent free access to the entire network. This is a good analogy to the Internet, where once you have a computer and pay for net access, you have unbiased access to the network. Sure, there are pay sites, toll roads, speed traps, and carnivores along the way; but the point is that the majority of the network is free (as in beer), and that we all (individuals and corporations alike) benefit from the network.
I think it deserves to stay that way.

Edit

Another opinion in favor of “toll roads.”