"Net Neutrality" bill shot down

[Broke_as_****]

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6081882.html

To cut to the bottom line, Net Neutrality would have requried internet service providers to treat all websites the same. Without that requirement, they are open to doing things like increasing the access speed to companies that pay them a premium price for bandwidth. Think "protection money", pay us or we'll choke your access speed. Supporters of the bill fear without it the internet could turn into another no-room-for-the-small-guy, the-CEO-tells-you-what-you-want-to-see, media-monopoly controlled world of shit like cable TV. That is the concern anyway, whether or not it will pan out is for the future to decide.

Opponents of the bill stated their position essentially as "This would be getting the Government invovled in policing the bandwidth market." According to some accounts the depth of control in the actual wording of the Net Neutrality bill was more extensive then its supporters were letting on.

[Neutrino]

I am one of the biggest supporters of free economies with minimal governmental interference. However if this case its imperative that the government step in and curb some of the powers of the telecommunication companies (telcos) which are acting as a cartel more and more.

With a generally neutral internet as we have used till now us the customers have decided what we want and what will succeed. Both we and the content providers pay for bandwidth and we should be able to use as we please.

It is because of this neutrality that 2 guys in a garage manage to beat the Juggernaut Microsoft and create what now we know as Google. Google is now a billionaire corporation because we the customers decided their search engine was best and start using it all the time.

Now if the telcos could just decide who is fast and who is slow Microsoft or Yahoo could have made sure that Google would've died in its infancy before it could've afforded a fat pipeline.

So in a few years 2 guys with nothing became new billionaires just because they hade a better product. This is the essence of free market capitalism and of the American dream.

And Google is just an example what do you think will happen when the UDP packets used by VOIP providers like Skype or Vonage will mysteriously drop making conversations very difficult while even more mysteriously the double priced Verison or AT&T VOIP services will be crystal clear.

Yes there are a few arguments to have certain things like VOIP 911 calls or other emergency services receive priority but this can be addressed by making small additions to the net neutrality law.

Anyway I urge anyone that cares to contact their representative and argue the validity of the Net Neutrality concept.

Furthermore anyone should feel free to do a packet trace to one of their favorite sites snd cout the number of nodes they go trough. Some of those nodes owned by different companies, now realise what would happen if every node decide to shape traffic differently.

[YogsVR4]

Originally Posted by Neutrino

....

The internet needs to have the same government style control as they have over the highway system.

Although, I wouldn't say that Google beat Microsoft. Google beat Yahoo. Microsoft was late to that game.