Network Neutrality .... The Battle Begins

As Congress ponders the future of telecommunications policy, a new line of debate has opened over the concept of "network neutrality," and advocates of that neutrality are making their case to bloggers.

Under a system of net neutrality, dominant cable and telecommunications companies could not charge their competitors extra to offer certain high-bandwidth services over high-speed Internet networks. BellSouth and Verizon Communications have proposed doing just that, arguing that they should be able to charge more for higher quality service. But critics contend that unless networks remain neutral, the flow of commerce and information will be hindered.

Free Press is among the proponents of net neutrality, and it created an online letter-writing campaign at Net Freedom Now to push the concept. The group also spearheaded a conference call with bloggers on Friday. The speakers included Timothy Karr and Ben Scott of Free Press, Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy, and law professor Lawrence Lessig, who has a blawg.

I didn't get a chance to join the call, but Craig Aaron of Free Press provided the details after the fact. About 25 bloggers, including those from Mediageek, The Jeff Pulver Blog, Sandhill Trek and Wi-Fi Networking News, were on the one-hour call.

Bob Morris addressed the subject at Politics in the Zeros after the call. "This would destroy the Net as we know it," he said of the plan for tiered pricing by telecom and cable giants. "For example, great blogs like Crooks and Liars that do videocasting would not be able to afford top-tier prices and thus would be relegated to a slower-download-speed lane (if they weren't blocked altogether.) Technology exists now, in the form of new routers, for this to happen."

Mediageek also posted commentary on the call, as well as a related podcast. And Sandhill Trek offered some thoughts.

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(I'll update this later with links to all of the important info ..... I'm having browser issues at the moment)
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Until now, the Internet has been governed by the principle of “network neutrality,” which allows independent voices to try out new ideas without having to pay extra or ask for permission.

But net neutrality is in danger. Major communications companies are planning to discriminate against the online content and services that they don’t yet control. If successful, their scheme would forever alter the free flow of information and ideas in the blogosphere.

Congress is now debating the future of the Internet. Unless bloggers and their readers get involved, our elected representatives could allow the Internet to become a “walled garden” and shift the digital revolution into reverse.