Post on 15-Jan-2015
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2. The internet today is an open platform where the demand for
websites and services dictates success. You've got barriers to
entries that are low and equal for all comers. And it's because the
internet is a neutral platform that I can put on this podcast and
transmit it over the internet without having to go through some
corporate media middleman. I can say what I want without
censorship. I don't have to pay a special charge. But the big
telephone and cable companies want to change the internet as we
know it. They say they want to create high-speed lanes on the
internet and strike exclusive contractual arrangements with
internet content-providers for access to those high-speed lanes.
Those of us who can't pony up the cash for these high-speed
connections will be relegated to the slow lanes ... We can't have a
situation in which the corporate duopoly dictates the future of the
internet and that's why I'm supporting what is called net
neutrality.
BARACK OBAMA, podcast, Jun. 8, 2006
3. What is Network Neutrality?
The Internet consists of access pipes that connect users to the
Internet backbone. New wireless services are becoming available but
traditionally access has been provided over the physical wiring
infrastructures offered by cable and telephone companies. The speed
of the access pipe can vary but once in the backbone core everyones
web content, whether the content provider was a large or small
business, receives the same speed and quality. This is the
principle of Net Neutrality.
4. Users have an expectation that Internet Service Providers will
maintain the neutrality of the Internet but it appears that greed
trumps this trust. Companies providing Internet services should
treat all customers equally from a low traffic blog to a well
established news network.
5. The point of concern and debate is whether Internet Service
Providers should differentially manage Internet traffic based on
the user pay principle. Should ISPs give preferential treatment to
content providers who pay for faster transmission? Even worse
should ISPs effectively act as Internet censors by giving
preferential treatment to their own web content? If the principle
of Net Neutrality is forsaken the Internet as we have come to know
it will be lost; the future of the Internet is at stake. The loss
of Net Neutrality would essentially create a two-tier web where
those of us who refuse or cant pay are reduced to using a slower
and less reliable second tier service.
6. Internet Service Providers or ISPs for short have an unparallel
level of control when it comes to our Internet. New technologies
make it easier for ISPs to tell what youre doing online, for
example detecting how many e-mails a person is sending or receiving
and if they are using their connections for online gaming, or using
P2P applications.
7. ISPs have the ability to direct bandwidth towards different
applications, effectively dictating to consumers whether certain
applications can run faster than others. To illustrate an ISP can
make e-mail run faster while, slowing down programs like Bit
Torrent.As an additional example through traffic shaping an ISP can
affect the bandwidth available to a website that it doesn't approve
of.Traffic Shaping is just one of the many techniques service
providers can use to violate network neutrality.
8. What is a Tiered Service?
Companies often support their websites in house at their own
locations; however as an alternative model, people and companies
providing web content pay service providers for hosting their
online content. In a hosted solution customers currently pay a
different price based on the access speed they chose. Under a
tiered system content owners would also choose how fast their
websites and applications would be transmitted across the internet.
A tiered system would favour larger companies that can afford
faster speeds, giving an unfair advantage over smaller companies
and individuals. Such a system would ultimately hurt Internet
innovation and squash the little guy trying to compete.
9. It has been the open architecture of the Internet that has been
the driving force of the Internets bottom up innovation and which
has made the internet the great success it is today. The Internet
has created the global village a place where regular people and
communities/organizations can be connected directly to an audience.
In the future companies may not be able to replicate the Google
story, a company that started off small and grew quickly because
clients had convenient access to this innovative
organization.
10. The State of Network Neutrality in Canada
In Canada there is strong debate over Net Neutrality. There are
those like myself and my group that believe strongly in the
neutrality of the Internet. While Canadian telecommunication
companies disagree. They urge that the issue be left to market
forces; they say that legislation isnt necessary. The problem with
this argument is that most Canadians only have a handful of choices
for broadband. Service Providers already hold a monopoly over the
industry. There are too few choices to leave it to the free market.
There is an economic incentive for ISPs to discriminate against non
favoured sites and in promoting their own content. It is necessary
to ensure that there is an equal playing field and for that to
happen government needs to step in. Without action the Internet
could come to resemble the cable TV industry.
11. Currently the CRTC the Canadian telecommunication watchdog has
largely refrained from any kind of strict regulation against retail
Service Providers, however they have launched a public inquiry into
internet service providers traffic shaping and throttling policies.
I feel at this point the CRTC is waiting for the debate to be
settled in the United States. For believers in Net Neutrality there
is some hope in the United States where Barack Obama is a strong
supporter.
12. Against this background where governments seem to be inept or
at least reluctant to press for meaningful regulation, several
Canadian telecommunications companies have admitted to traffic
shaping. Bell has been caught throttling its customers and
competitors. TELUS has been caught blocking websites and Rogers has
been caught restricting downloads. What my group and I have found
appalling is that there is virtually no Service Provider with a
perfect track record.
13. The very principles that the Internet was founded on are under
attack. Service Providers have been increasingly more effective in
their methods. They wish to change the way the internet works to
meet their interests and those interests do not align with the
hundreds of millions of users worldwide. We cannot allow the open
architecture of the Internet to slowly disappear.
14. It is imperative that government steps in and bullies service
providers into ensuring the integrity of the Internet it must
remain open and free. Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who
they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can
do online.(Google vice-president, Vint Cerf) It is our opinion that
violating Net Neutrality narrows consumer choice, inhibits
innovation and hurts freedom of speech.
15. References:
The New York Times (2010). Net Neutrality [On-line]. Available:
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/refrence/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.htmlPublic
Knowledge. Network Neutrality [On-line]. Available:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/network-neutralityCanadian
Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research Vol5, No 1
(2010). Net Neutrality in Canada and what it means for libraries
[On-line]. Available:
http://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1133/1709SaveOutNet.ca.
Frequently Asked Questions [On-line]. Available:
http://saveournet.ca/content/faq Save the Internet. What is
Neutrality [On-line]. Available:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/frequently-asked-questionsCBC News
(2006). Battle over net neutrality arrives in Canada [On-line].
Available:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/11/02/tech-neutrality.htmlBest
Speeches of Barack Obama (2006). Network Neutrality Podcast,
Complete Transcript [On-line]. Available:
http://obamaspeeches.com/076-Network-Neutrality-Obama-Podcast.htm