#280026 - 24/04/2006 16:58
Net Neutrality in the United States
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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If you haven't been following Congress' latest attempt to royally screw up the Internets, you might want to take a peek at this short video which explains what is likely to happen if things continue as they are. For those who can stomach visiting a liberal blog, this post provides some more background, and some reasons why this one actually has a chance of passing unless something is done. I don't see how anyone can see this as anything other than a sellout to corporate interests, who have not only engaged in anti-competitive behavior in the past, but have promised they will do so in the future. Whether it's outright blocking of sites, degrading traffic via quality of service measures, or charging higher prices for doing business with a competitor, it all ends up being another mechanism to screw the consumer, often when that consumer has no other legitimate way to get onto the Internet. Anyone who believes there's a reason the First Amendment is..... the first amendment... should be very disturbed by this.
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#280027 - 24/04/2006 18:11
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: tonyc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Is this going to affect all of the internets?
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#280028 - 01/05/2006 16:26
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
Is this going to affect all of the internets?
Quite possibly, I am affraid, if one of the guys who look as if they have fallen out from "Space Merchants" happens to run an important node on the backbone. Were you refering to "Internet2"? Well, it might be safe for a short while...
ISPs argue that guys like Google are freeloaders. Well, last time I checked, I was paying for my bandwith used to access them (and Google doesn't get theirs from a charity). People are forgetting what "public infrastructure" means, prefering to parrot slogans about "free market". This is as if a toll-road operator had toll booths segregated by car brands: more the manufacturer pays, more booths for their cars; drivers still pay, regardless. 
Letting the market decide which add-on services will survive without destroying the Internet is easy: take, for example, "triple play"* service (introduced in, say, France two years ago, this year comming to Croatia): you get a hefty DSL or cable bandwith, say 8Mb/s. Part of is, say 2Mb/s, is reserved for "normal", content-neutral Internet; the rest is used for whatever market wants (in this case, cable-like TV, pay-per-view TV and VoIP). Consumers can chose any combination of these, but, naturally, the bundle is cheapest.
Neutral Internet means freedom of information, and this is as dangerous as laser printers and photocopiers were in Soviet Union.
*) I had a Freudian slip here: I wrote "triple pay"
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#280029 - 02/05/2006 17:05
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: bonzi]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
ISPs argue that guys like Google are freeloaders. Well, last time I checked, I was paying for my bandwith used to access them (and Google doesn't get theirs from a charity).
Indeed. But you don't pay a *premium* 
Unfortunately the US operators also forget who pays for all the international capacity between you and google - and we know it's not AT&T, Qwest or BellSouth.
Too bad the current US administration only listens to the traditional big-lobbying-effort industry...
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#280031 - 15/05/2006 10:55
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: tonyc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2858
Loc: Atlanta, GA
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PVP fans should check out the site today for Scott's opinion on this.
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
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#280032 - 16/05/2006 00:24
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: JeffS]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Wow, what a great caricature of Harry Mudd.
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#280033 - 01/07/2006 22:33
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: tonyc]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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A blog on Wired has an entry quoting Republican senator Ted Stevens from Alaska explaining why he voted against an amendment to the telecommunications bill that would require some modest form of net neutrality, and generally explaining this whole Internet thingumajig. It would be hilarous were it not depressing. Something tells me that Doug did not vote for this guy...
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue
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#280034 - 03/07/2006 01:39
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Something tells me that Doug did not vote for this guy...
I haven't voted for anybody in the last 10-15 years. All I ever do is vote against people.
I realized a while ago that I have become that crazy old coot who lived in the house on the corner that we all used to make fun of when we were kids. I cannot think of a single decision made by any politician, from dog catcher to President, that I have not vehemently disagreed with over the last decade.
Gaaah! I am giving very serious consideration to emigration.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#280035 - 04/07/2006 17:29
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Quote:
I realized a while ago that I have become that crazy old coot who lived in the house on the corner that we all used to make fun of when we were kids.
Elaine has already accepted my (largely fulfilled) ambition to be an angry old man who sits on a porch and scoffs at the rest of the world. Only remaining debates relate to the size of the porch.
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#280036 - 04/07/2006 17:31
Re: Net Neutrality in the United States
[Re: bonzi]
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veteran
Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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And I am sure you have seen this: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,24389-2252271,00.html
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