Net Neutrality Watch

We've touched upon the issue of "net neutrality" in previous articles.

Because it's such an important issue, it would be irresponsible of me not to come back to it from time to time.

What's net neutrality? Simply put, it's business as usual on the Internet.

The story about net neutrality is actually the story of what threatens that "business as usual."

The notion is that at some point, somewhere along the way, may wish to restrict or surcharge your Internet service based on what you do, what applications you use, or what equipment you hook up to a service pipeline.

So, let's take Google, a major proponent of net neutrality.

Right now, Google offers its users online applications like a word processor, and a spreadsheet. At no cost. Google's business model is that it makes money from advertising, because an enormous number of people use Google daily. But what if Google had to pay to be carried by service providers? Or you had to pay extra to access Google?

Three levels of "neutrality" have been defined in relation to web service (from Wikipedia):

Absolute Non-Discrimination: The net is a public information network that treats all content, sites, and platforms equally."

Google's "Guide to Net Neutrality" says: "Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days... Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In an absolutely neutral Internet, data packets would be forwarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Limited Discrimination without QoS Tiering: United States lawmakers have introduced bills that would allow quality of service discrimination as long as no special fee is charged for higher-quality service.

Limited Discrimination and Tiering: This approach allows higher fees for QoS as long as there is no exclusivity in service contracts.

And there is a business consideration for carriers. High-bandwidth services (such as VOIP, online movie viewing, even access point sharing among neighbors) can reduce service quality, and even rob providers of potential income.

Some carriers suggest that the greater potential for income would encourage technological innovation and new ideas for services.

It's highly unlikely that some eventual changes won't appear in the way we access data on the Internet - and it's also highly unlikely that things are likely to change significantly for most ordinary online activities, at least not in the near future.

But what's the latest? Says Google: "The U.S. House of Representatives passed its telecommunications bill, H.R. 5252, in May (2008). On June 28, the Senate Commerce Committee passed its own telecom bill, S. 2686. An amendment to the bill that would have added net neutrality safeguards failed 11-11. The debate now shifts to the full Senate, where advocates will be working to get strong net neutrality language is any bill that the Senate considers."

You can learn more about this highly complicated subject on Wikipedia, and you can also (if you're so inclined!) read actual congressional testimony, both pro and con.