Net Neutrality Support
The BBC notes that Big names support net neutrality
A group of the world’s largest internet companies has written a letter of support to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The letter is the latest in an ongoing debate about “network neutrality” – or how data is distributed on the web.
…The letter, signed by the chief executives of Google, Ebay, Skype, Facebook, Amazon and Sony Electronics among others, says that maintaining data neutrality helps businesses to compete on the basis of content alone.
…Other signatories included community websites Digg, Flickr, LinkedIn and Craigslist.
The telcos want to set up tiers so they can charge some people more than others, i.e. introduce a class system to the ‘Net, because some people don’t like to have their important content treated the same way as Friday Cat Blogging.
The real problem is that telcos have been pulling in subscribers with promises of unlimited bandwidth, and discovered they are going to need to spend money on improvements to the infrastructure to provide it, rather than just milking the existing system for profits, which is what they had in mind.
If they don’t make the improvements, they are going to be forced to start limiting the access of their subscribers, and the subscribers may leave. It’s called competition, and there isn’t a lot of it around, but they hate what there is.
2 comments
…one need look no further than the actions of AT&T over the weekend to see who’s ox is gore-worthy. Its exhortation to managers to get friends and family – and, perhaps, even employees – on the keyboard to send personal “concerned citizen” messages to Congress (complete with conveniently-provided talking points) defines the money trail that leads all the way back to what AT&T’s root concern really is. There’s a lot on the line for these folks in terms of foregone profits from what sometimes seems to be an intentional ‘bait and switch” scheme if it comes to pass that a legally-established concept of net neutrality is enacted, and they are not going to go quietly…
They want to collect from both sides. i.e. they want tiered service for the end users and a surcharge on the content producers. If you are Netflix and want to stream movies over the ‘Net, they want you to pay them a fee, as well as, charging the individual receiving the download.
The greed is thick, and they can smell the potential profits.
They have been pushing their wireless schemes, and net neutrality will really cut into the profit potential.