The Ninja and Net Neutrality

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As an "information professional" (whatever that means) I figured I'd better figure out where I stand on Network Neutrality. I am here to tell you I'm a for it.

What is this thing I speak of, you ask? Well, it seems that the big baddies that control telecommunications figure that it is in their best interests to block or slow down access to certain sites or enhance access to their own. Naturally this in not in the average consumer's best interest. Surprise, surprise. By breaking down net neutrality they can charge certain content providers premiums to ensure that the telecom people provide premium access at top speed to one site while blocking or greatly slowing down access to another (ie. Yahoo could pay to have the ISP favour them over Google).

Want it broken down? Listen to the Ninja:


A slightly more serious but very informative explanation is provided by Public Knowledge.

Does this sound like conspiracy theory at work? Well, my friends, it has already happened in Canada. Two examples (from Save the Internet's FAQ, but quoted widely):

- In 2005, Canada's telephone giant Telus blocked customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to the Telecommunications Workers Union during a labor dispute.
- Shaw, a big Canadian cable TV company, is charging an extra $10 a month to subscribers in order to "enhance" competing Internet telephone services.

And from the e-law guru, Michael Geist:

Most recently, customers of Rogers, Canada's largest cable ISP, have speculated that the company has begun to block access to peer-to-peer services such as BitTorrent as well as the downloading of podcasts from services such as iTunes.

The thing that makes the internet a grand place is that you have equal access to my crackpot ravings, to megacorporations, to activism sites, and to feelgood fuzzy stuff. This issue doesn't seem to have Canadians in an uproar (yet) and there has a recommendation made by the Telecom Review Panel that urges for the upholding of net neutrality (see Mark Evans and Mark Goldberg on the report) but this is far from binding and even a touch wishy-washy. However, in the US, things are heating up and there is a campaign to Save the Internet in the face Congress' planned revision of the Telecommunication Act that basically could fulfill all the hopes and wishes of AT&T et al and screw the people. To my American readers (do I have any American readers? Do I have any readers?) do what the ninja tells you - sign the petition, call your representatives, become a giant pain in their ass and let them know that you like your internet as it is. For the Canuks - hold tight and we'll see where things go.
rgsc
(with my thanks to the Mockers for really bringing this issue to my attention)