Articles: What's All the Fuss About Net Neutrality
My Notes (from these sources)
- Net neutrality: concept that all traffic flows over the Internet without preference
- Meaning that your isp(internet service providers) wont give preference to one streaming video over another
- It is how the internet works
- There is a concern that without formal rules about net neutrality
- The FCC does not have sufficient jurisdiction over the internet so it cannot enforce net neutrality
- Congress could enact a legislation to mandate net neutrality but that would be a lengthy process that would include lengthy input from ISPs, content publishers, users and right groups on a medium that is always changing
- There is a suggested policy framework offered recently by Verizon and google. It suggest formally barring any wired internet provider from discriminating against or prioritizing internet traffic solely to create a competitive advantage
- But note, that it does not make any mention of wireless networks.It carves those out of the neutrality vision
- That's where the problem is emerging.
- some people are worried that this might lead to ISPs trying to control what you can and cannot do on your wireless device
- As mobile device usage is increasing rapidly, this might can be to an advantage for Verizon (because of its mobile device market share) and google (since it provides the Android and owns YouTube)
- "Basically, the concern is that anyone using an Android phone on the Verizon network could receive priority while watching YouTube videos, while other video sites received less priority (in other words, the videos would take longer to download). This, of course, could then be extended to other phones and other wireless networks, depending on which company pays the most."
- controlling what people can or cannot do on their Internet devices (wired or wireless) violates net neutrality.
- "Tim Berners has said that he didn't need anyone's permission to design the web.'Freedom of connection, with any application, to any party, is the fundamental social basis of the Internet, and, now, the society based on it.'"
- Tim Berners is the one who invented the worldwide web
- this is not saying the access should be free, it is saying that you should receive the certain level of connectivity you signed up for
- "What the supporters of net neutrality are worried about is that:
-ISPs may decide to prioritize your content based on fees paid for access.
-ISPs may decide to block content, especially content from their competitors"
