[LINK] Net neutrality

[Richard Chirgwin]

>
> Should Australia consider a net neutrality law?
>
>   
Short answer: probably not.

Long answer:
- "Net neutrality" is a nebulous and ill-defined term. To be more 
precise, there may be an accurate or straightforward definition of net 
neutrality, but in the public debate, most people have no idea what it 
means. Including participants in the debate.
For example: define the boundary at which "The Internet" ends (and 
therefore neutrality no longer applies).

- There's no guarantee that all future developments which are "net 
neutrality purist" are actually bad things.

- If a provider describes a service as one thing but delivers another, 
we already have mechanisms to deal with it.

- If I *want* to buy a "non neutral" service, and am capable of making 
an informed decision about it, then why not? In fact, business customers 
already do so, specifying and paying for multiple traffic classes so 
that their inter-office voice calls are treated differently from e-mail. 
A strict reading of the proposal below: "prohibit network operators like 
AT&T and Comcast from blocking, impairing, or discriminating against 
"lawful" Internet content, appli cations, and services or charging extra 
fees for "prioritization or enhanced quality of service" - puts an end 
to this. Unless, of course, the service boundary is defined such that 
customers who *want* a QoS-enabled service can have it, in which case 
there also exists a workaround to the legislation.

I hold no brief for the network operators, but the net neutrality debate 
has long become a consignment of geriatric shoe makers. Just because 
there exists simplistic American debate founded on turning a (now) 
meaningless rallying-cry into an almost inevitably risible piece of 
legislation doesn't mean we have to play "monkey see, monkey do".

Richard Chirgwin
 
stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> Should Australia consider a net neutrality law?
>
> --
> Democrats revive another Net neutrality proposal
> Posted by Anne Broache  May 8, 2008 12:16 PM PDT
>
> http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9939443-7.html?tag=nefd.top
>
> The only Net neutrality proposal to encounter some measure of success in 
> the U.S. Congress is back again for another try. 
>
> As foreshadowed at a March hearing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman 
> John Conyers on Thursday reintroduced the Internet Freedom and Non-
> discrimination Act which passed by a 20-13 vote in the same committee in 
> 2006. 
>
> Rep. Zoe Lofgren is co-sponsoring the bill, but so far, it is not clear 
> whether any Republicans have signed on. 
>
> Just like last time, the bill would rewrite U.S. antitrust law to prohibit 
> network operators like AT&T and Comcast from blocking, impairing, or 
> discriminating against "lawful" Internet content, applications, and 
> services or charging extra fees for "prioritization or enhanced quality of 
> service." 
>
> "The Internet was designed without centralized control, without 
> gatekeepers for content and services," Conyers said in a statement. 
>
> "If we allow companies with monopoly or duopoly power to control how the 
> Internet operates, network providers could have the power to choose what 
> content is available." 
>
> The five-page measure would provide exceptions for things like "reasonable 
> and nondiscriminatory" network management necessary to keep the network 
> running smoothly and compliance with other laws and court orders. 
>
> Net neutrality, of course, is the idea that network operators shouldn't be 
> allowed to prioritize information that rides on their pipes. 
>
> Advocates of legislation--including Google, Amazon.com, eBay, and a 
> variety of consumer advocacy groups--argue rules are necessary to keep the 
> Internet free, open, and democratic, so that small start-ups can be on a 
> level playing field with more established companies. 
>
> Network operators, by contrast, say new rules will stifle investments in 
> new broadband networks and deprive them of the flexibility they need to 
> keep their services running smoothly. 
> --
>
>
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