Andy Morton (org)

Image courtsey of Oregon State Univ. Archives

Net neutrality. It’s a topic I care about. It’s the concept that the internet should be left alone. That bits are bits and should be treated neutrally, no matter if they consist of email, text, video, audio, Voip, bit torrent, etc. The country’s commercial ISPs see it differently. They use the excuse of providing “managed services” as a way to prioritize the bits. They want restrictive bandwidth caps and to be able to charge overage fees. They want to take the open internet and dissect it into multiple channels and extract additional revenue from each “lane.” There have been examples of ISPs actively downgrading the quality of Voip bits (Skype, Vonage) because Voip competes with their own phone products. In 2008 the FCC forced Comcast to end their practice of throttling bit torrent traffic. Granted, the bulk of bit torrent data consists of pirated movies, tv and music. However there are many, many companies and open source projects that distribute their products using bit torrent because it’s a low cost, low bandwidth way to handle data. The current FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski came into to his position promising that the internet would remain free, open, and that questionable telco practices would not be allowed. Apparently this has changed. Whether its pressure from Congress and lobbyists over the past year, Genachowski has stepped away from his stance on a free and open web. The newest proposal from the FCC for ‘net neutrality’ gives the telcos exactly what they want. It’s called a compromise. They promise to be open and transparent in exchange for allowing them to “manage their networks to better serve their customers.” Over the past two days each telco issued a press release praising the FCC’s new proposal (if that doesn’t sound your alarm bells, I don’t know what will). I’m very concerned that we’re going to lose the internet as it exists and that the web of the future is will be very different. The FCC will vote on Dec. 21st on this plan. What can you do? Contact the FCC and voice your concerns. Sign the petition below at Save the Internet.com. And by all means contact your senator and congressional representative.

Read more:

Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality – Scientific American by Tim Berners-Lee

Telecom Giants Cheer FCC Plan, Net Neutrality Advocates Aren’t Amused – Wired Magazine

Did the FCC just bless a capped, two-tier Internet? – Ars Technica

Sign the petition at http://www.savetheinternet.com/