Network Neutrality or Will the Internet Remain Free
We have all witnessed the rapid growth of the Internet and the network it resides on in this country, which is cable, DSL, T-1 and wireless connections. It seems that some of the big boys like Verizon and other telecos are lobbying congress to give them the ability to control their private networks. This will mean that there will be a two tier Internet. The sites and services that are willing to pay to get proper exposure and the rest who will not. This translates to a player like Google, who would not have all those resources for you at your finger tips because most of it would be blocked unless they paid for the right to have access on Verizon’s network. And that is a big network. Once they succeed, every telco will do it and then the free Internet will be gone.
Congress is not convinced that letting the big telecos control the Internet is a bad thing. One Amendment to stop this from becoming law was defeated in Congress. The big Internet players like search engines and e commerce are lobbying to block this. So right now, we have telecos vs Internet commerce. They do need each other but will they (teleco) realize that they could kill the goose that laid a platinum egg? I hope so.
Jim Mahlmann