Monthly Archives: March 2007

EduCause Talking Points

EDUCAUSE, the higher education information technology organization, is active in net neutrality. Why? The first two points of their Talking Points on Net Neutrality answer that:
  1. Net neutrality is fundamentally important to allowing universities fulfill their educational mission. Universities’ goal is to deliver high-quality multimedia instructional material to as many students as possible, including off-campus students and those in rural areas. The widespread availability of open, affordable broadband communications makes distance learning more accessible and effective.
  2. Universities’ Internet research laboratories could be undermined if the Internet is not open to innovation and experimentation. Universities are developing next-generation Internet technologies that will drive the Internet economy. If Internet service providers are allowed to inhibit or degrade these research activities, the United States could lose its leadership role in the creation of Internet-based technologies.
Universities need net neutrality to do their two most basic jobs: teaching and research. Continue reading →

Public Outcry for Net Neutrality

A recent poll says the U.S. public supports net neutrality:
The nationally representative survey found that more than 75 percent of Internet users polled are seriously concerned about not being able to freely choose an Internet service provider or being required to pay twice for certain Internet services. Another 70 percent were concerned about providers blocking or impairing their access to Internet services or sites, such as Internet telephone service or online retailers like Amazon.com. Fifty-four percent want Congress to take action to ensure that Internet providers are prohibited from engaging in these practices.

Importance of the Internet Public Support for Net Neutrality New Survey: Consumers Want Congress to Protect Right to Access Information, Services on Internet, “Network Neutrality” Issue Needs Pro-Active Response from FCC, Congress to Ensure Consumers, Start-Ups Are Not Subject to Discrimination, FCC Commissioner Copps Calls for National Dialogue, ConsumersUnion.org, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006

This poll was of 1,000 households in November 2005. Continue reading →

Net Neutrality and Innovation

A newspaper article claims that net neutrality is unnecessary and counterproductive:
On the present Internet, ISPs do have control over what information can pass through their infrastructure, but cases of actual unfair discrimination against certain services are extremely rare. Currently, both the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission have authority to enforce competition rules and punish Internet providers for discriminating against unaffiliated services.

Markets, not mandates, for Net, By Dominik Saran, Washington Times, February 28, 2007

Well, yes, the FCC could do that, but in August 2005 it chose to get rid of what remained of net neutrality and to replace it with four vague principles that are not enforced. Continue reading →

Berners-Lee for Net Neutrality

The inventor of the World Wide Web testified before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday 1 March, summing it up in one sentence:
“We are a society only in as much as we are individuals communicating.”
Not that that’s all he said:
Berners-Lee didn’t endorse specific Net neutrality proposals largely supported by congressional Democrats, but he said the Web as a communications medium deserves “special treatment” to protect its nondiscriminatory approach to content.

While he was growing up in the U.K., there were high penalties for interfering with mail delivery, because mail was one of the main ways to communicate, Berners-Lee said. Now, the Web is a major communications medium worthy of protections, he said.

One company or country shouldn’t control access to the Web, he added.

Berners-Lee offers thoughts on Net neutrality, DRM, Legendary Web originator weighs in Grant Gross, IDG News Service, March 01, 2007

He didn’t get much opposition to his thoughts on net neutrality, but he did get some to his DRM comments. Continue reading →

EU Sues Germany over DT Broadband

It seems the European Union sees broadband monopolies differently than the U.S. FCC does:
EU spokesman Martin Selmayr told reporters that a letter “of formal notice” was sent to Berlin after it ignored repeated warnings not to adopt legislation that could grant Deutsche Telekom a de-facto monopoly on a new broadband network.

The German parliament on Friday passed the telecommunications law, exempting Deutsche Telekom’s high-speed network from regulation and demands to open up its network to competitors, at least for now.

EU Sues Germany Over Broadband Limits, Associated Press 02.26.07, 8:34 AM ET

Seems like the EU realizes monopoly is bad for competition. Continue reading →