US backing for two-tier internet

[Joanne98]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6983375.stm

The US Justice Department has said that internet service providers should be allowed to charge for priority traffic.

The agency said it was opposed to "network neutrality", the idea that all data on the net is treated equally.

The comments put the agency at odds with companies such as Microsoft and Google, who have called for legislation to guarantee equal access to the net.

The agency submitted its comments to the Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating net access.

Several US internet service providers (ISPs), including AT&T and Verizon, have previously said that they want to charge some users more money for certain content.

This has particularly become an issue with the rise of TV and film download services.

A similar debate is ongoing in the UK.

One web

The Justice Department said imposing net neutrality regulations could hinder development of the internet and prevent ISPs from upgrading networks.

The agency said it could also shift the "entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers".

"Regulators should be careful not to impose regulations that could limit consumer choice and investment in broadband facilities," said Thomas Barnett, the department's antitrust chief.

The agency's stance is contrary to much of the internet community that believes in an open model for the internet.

Net neutrality advocates argue that a two-tier internet would allow broadband providers to become gatekeepers to the web's content.

Providers that can pay will be able to get a commercial advantage over those that cannot, they say.

In particular, there is a fear that institutions like universities and charities would suffer.

Last year, Sir Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the web rallied against the idea of a two-tier internet.

"What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web," he said.

"Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6983375.stm

This should be the NUMBER ONE question that is asked at the hearings for a new AG!

[Vidar]

1. Yet another blow struck in the "nonexistant" class war.

[sarcasmo]

2. One day none of us will be able to afford the Internet.

[AdHocSolver]

3. A two-tier Internet will allow the big-moneyed right-wing interests to drive progressive content...

like you find on blogs like DU into oblivion. And that is the aim of ATT and Verizon, among other groups.

Just as the wealthy rightwingers bought up many of the once independent media outlets and turned them into right-wing propaganda networks such as Fox and Clear Channel, ATT, et al, will be able to use multi-tier pricing to limit bandwidth to sites such as DailyKos, DU, Buzzflash, and others. The ability to limit bandwidth is similar to a virus that uses up bandwidth in a denial-of-service attack.

ATT and Verizon did not invent the Internet. The original impetus was funding by DARPA using our tax dollars. Just as the drug companies make huge profits off of drugs, many of which were developed at universities and research firms using our tax dollars obtained from government agencies like National Institutes of Health (NIH), ATT's aim is to take over the Internet to shake down the public and promote a right-wing agenda.

Moreover, the big corporations, like Walmart, can afford to pay high prices for more bandwidth. Small businesses will not be able to compete against large conglomerates. This doesn't work like buying ad space in your local newspaper. A big department store can buy a full page ad. A smaller company can settle for an eighth-page ad. Yet the smaller company's ad can still have as much chance of being seen as the large company's ad. On the Internet, the smaller company's ad will be "drowned out" due to reduced bandwidth.

Finally, when was it required of the general public to pay for costly expansion of the networks to make it possible for a few companies to make more profit. Allowing ATT to set rates arbitrarily will give them the power that health insurance companies now possess to determine what kind of medical care you get and whether you get it at all.