Well, the FCC has ruled. And now the criticisms begin.
Net neutrality has become a very important fight, perhaps the most important fight of our lifetime; should backbone providers and ISPs be free to discriminate against particular types of internet traffic? Can they be gatekeepers? Or are they merely pipe providers?
The argument definitely has two sides, with the massive growth of internet-streamed video. Data through the 'net is increasing exponentially but carriers are not able to profit from it. Is this fair? Will this affect infrastructure buildout?
But on the other hand, carriers clearly want to capture end users and prioritize their own services. This could cause the internet to migrate to a model that looks a lot like the cellphone model; restrictive, with services that are provided a la carte or are restricted based upon carrier, device, and plan. No end user wants that, and most businesses other than the media businesses and the carriers don't want that either.
So, the fight rages. And now the FCC has ruled.
Here is Fox News' clearly negative take (with contributions from AP):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...trality-rules/
Here is a blogger's take - and I will note that he quotes far-leftist Al Franken in his blog - again, clearly negative:
http://www.bnet.com/blog/technology-...consumers/7503
For that matter, here is Franken himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aE5DLymXu4
So.
The complaints - from both the Left and the Right - all say that the regulations proposed by the FCC will NOT manage to keep a level playing field on the internet, while it WILL let the government regulatory camel to get its nose in the tent.
But given the monopoly or duopoly of internet access in ALL markets in the US, we clearly have to do something to keep these huge media conglomerates from getting control of the internet and exercising that control to maximize their profits, minimize our choices, and - ultimately perhaps - control what we can and cannot do and see on the internet.
Comments?