Even though everyone out there is writing articles about net neutrality, I felt the need to get involved as well. I plan to go through a large amount of material, so I'm breaking it up into parts. On this page I'll outline the general arguments in the case. Next, I'll talk a bit about telephone companies, then cable companies, then internet companies, maybe a bit on TV and film studios, and then finally a big conclusion (which will suck, because I hate writing conclusions).
So why is everyone talking about Net Neutrality anyway? Basically, our telecommunications laws are a mess. There are all kinds of problems for telephone and cable companies, including: special taxes, local franchises, right of way laws, line leasing, 911 requirements, etc. So legislation was introduced to deal with two items that the internet made possible, internet telephone, and internet TV. Built into the law was the concept of net neutrality. Many countries have successful net neutrality laws. These laws ensure that a company carrying internet traffic gives everyone equal access to the fastest path from point A to point B. Phone and Cable companies don't like this concept, because they would like to charge for access to the fastest cable. They convinced many of our congress people to get rid of net neutrality from the bills being passed. The House passed a bill already, but the Senate might keep net neutrality in its bill (but probably not).
As it stands, you pay some company, let's say, Comcast, for your high speed internet. They promise you a connection of up to some speed, let's say 5 Megabits per second. I pay my web host some amount of money to host this site. They in turn pay another company, let's say, Verizon, for their internet connection. Verizon gives them a certain speed connection, probably in the Gigabits. The company likely pays a flat fee per bit. Verizon moves the data from my web host to you along the lines of the internet, some they own, some they lease. Here's the problem. Verizon (in this example) is getting paid some amount by me (through my webhost) but Comcast is not. Comcasts want to charge me for fast delivery, because if they can, they want to earn as much for the use of their cable as possible.
Now, some required reading.
Give Me Bandwidth . . . - Andy Kessler discusses how telecos are ripping us off because of lack of competition, but legislation will be a mess.
If we build it they will come: - Robert X. Cringely explains (similar to eminent domain from the previous article) that grabbing the last bit of cable running to houses will give the proper leverage to consumers.
Ted Stevens on the internets - This blog post shows the kinds of brilliant political minds we have working on the issue.
InfoWorld Special Report: Do we need Net neutrality? - A bunch of articles on net neutrality from both sides.
How Washington will shape the Internet - A nice article that mentions an important idea, national franchises.
Today's cell phone system argues for retaining network neutrality - This article uses cell phones as an example of what happens without network neutrality.
Now I will cover the special circumstances of each company, first, the Telecoms.
