Net neutrality rules have just been set forth this week by the FCC in the USA. There are some obvious concerns about any rule set being applied to Internet users and ISP’s where previously no rule set existed. For the record many ISP’s already throttle application and user bandwidth, prioritize protocols and block access to some services. The problem is when large ISP’s filter and throttle traffic to suit their profit and political motives, by promoting their services on their network and slowing the competitions products and services, this becomes a serious threat to the Internet as a whole. The idea to create competition by allowing ISP’s to set quality of service levels of competitive products is patently unfair to end users and other service providers. As it stands today, no service provider dares apply onerous interference of a competitors services for fear of a law suit. With the proposed rules competing ISP’s can begin to play games with the quality of service from one and other, but even before these rules are due to be implemented they are headed for the courts. The legal process could take years or an act of Congress to settle the fight. In either case, the rules proposed are the beginning of a divide and conquer strategy of the small and medium sized IPS’s by industry giants. In the mean time the industry is going beef up their legal teams and scrap it out in court. The Internet is the last bastion of free speech, free press and free association, it requires protections from corporations and government interference. I feel that no interference, complete net neutrality is the only option. The customers of these ISP’s better get involved in this fight soon or risk losing consumer protections and free speech, it is not about corporate rights, its about your rights to use the Internet in an unfettered way.
anarchistvoice 