Net Neutrality

This is getting real…. real ugly.

I wanted to take a moment and bring to your attention the issue of Net Neutrality and the importance of this topic for all website owners. In its simplest form Net Neutrality means that NO form of content is preferred over another. This means a free and open Internet for all. The issues are complex and cloudy. For instance, some people care that medical records are delivered with priority over a Britney Spears video- thus against net neutrality. Others care that their company message is delivered with equal priority- thus for net neutrality. Both points are very valid.

Recently Google and Verizon are working to craft a proposal to apparently bar phone and cable providers from prioritizing certain types of content in favor of their own services. However, saying bandwidth restricted services like wireless could do so if they disclosed their policies. Ultimately, they hope their outline will serve as a framework for the FCC to enforce net neutrality. The FCC has been trying to enforce/require Net Neutrality (good), but would need to assert more authority over the Internet (bad). IMO

That said, I wouldn’t be too quick to pat Google or Verizon on the back just yet. These two companies are obviously jockeying for position in the future Internet. They are in fact on opposite sides so to speak. Their proposal apparently endorses FCC vigilance over the Internet which I am personally not too happy about.

At the same time, phone and cable providers are upset, because after investing billions in infrastructure, they say they should be able to do things the way they see fit. They suggest that net neutraility laws like this would discourage them from continuing to invest in their infrastructure (I get that). One point phone and cable providers mention is that  they need to prioritize traffic just to keep things running smoothly and avoid bandwidth hogs that would slow traffic for others. I can understand this point too. I would likely be upset if I was restricted on how I could use my own equipment.

If net neutrality was taken away, or regulated by the government (or other forces), it COULD mean:

1) Your website may not get equal treatment when it comes to viewability on the Internet.
2) It may mean increased fees to publish a website and get visitors.
3) Decisions about what’s important and what’s not- will be out of your hands.
4) It will take away vital competition in favor of large generic company solutions.
5) Dictate what’s acceptable content and what’s not- censorship.
6) Additional fees, red-tape and regulations to publish content like your website.

As far as I am concerned I am against anything that would prohibit, slow, or otherwise impede my customer’s ability to conduct business online. I believe that there are other solutions that would reduce the government’s involvement, still provide a free and open Internet, but still allow for priortized traffic for important information and that would give phone and cable providers some encouragement to continue to invest. My guess is that this will come in the form of alternate “webs”. Ever heard of the Usenet (newsgroups)? The “World Wide Web is infact a subset of the overall Internet. Likely a new “world wide web” will emerge with premium services and bandwidth. Not really a solution but likely the way it will all go down.

See:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38571113/ns/technology_and_science-the_new_york_times