'Net nuetrality....what does it really mean?

Discussion in 'Politics and other "Messy" Stuff' started by ScottinBend, Dec 22, 2010.

  1. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    #1 ScottinBend, Dec 22, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2010
    This was posted by a friend of mine David Hostetler on another forum and he was kind enough to allow me to repost it here. It really deserves a close read.
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    If you've not been sure what this 'net neutrality' crap is all about, and wondering whether or not you should really care or if, like a lot of things, it'll 'just work out', then see this:

    Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service (update: audio) -- Engadget

    That is what we'll get, as internet using citizens, if there is NO net neutrality legislation.



    If that doesn't sink in immediately, here's an analogy: Imagine going to the post office to send a letter. It's just a normal letter in a normal envelope, addressed to a normal address. At the post office you have to pay postage for the letter, but the clerk asks you, "Who lives at that address? Is it your grandmother, a friend, or someone else?" If it's your grandmother, the postage costs $1, if it's a friend, it costs $2, and if it's anyone else, it costs $3.

    Same letter. Same address. Different prices based on who you intend to read the letter.

    And of course, in the internet scenario, they don't have to ask who the recipient is, they know - it's inherently discoverable in the data, so there's no cheating and saying that everything is going to and from your grandmother.

    And really, this little example is only the most trivial tip of the iceberg. The real threat is that of profiteering-fueled censorship.

    Here's another decent appraisal of the situation:

    Al Franken: The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time

    (Opinions on Al Franken, good or bad, shouldn't taint your opinion of that piece - it's spot on.)

    This *IS* the most important civil liberty issue of not just this generation, but potentially ANY generation. Screwing this up, which is the more likely outcome, condemns the future to be completely subjugated by entrenched corporate interests (moreso than we already are, if you've been paying any attention). At risk is nothing less than the ability to digitally obtain information, based on YOUR choices.

    Anyone using an Apple device the last few years, or an XBox 360, or something like, say, the Amazon kindle, has already gotten just a little taste of this. Those are the first forays into quarantined, vendor-controlled networks. Apple doesn't like a certain app for any reason whatsoever? You cease even being aware of its existence. Amazon changes its mind about a book you 'purchased'? *POOF*, it's gone off your kindle, retroactively, never to be seen again. Apple doesn't think it's squeezing enough money out of less profitable (or, God forbid, non-profit) publishers? Zoink - they're not even given access to the features of iBookstore, and when iBookstore is the only means with which your device can get a book, you no longer have access to that publisher's content. Microsoft doesn't like games of a certain type? You won't be seeing them on XBL, let alone ever see one take advantage of Kinect. And if you try to do anything to your XBox to allow it to play such games, they just terminate your network access, and perhaps even keep you from playing anything else, either, as spiteful punishment.

    If this sounds alarmist, that's the point. Until people recognize the real trajectory that this stuff is on, they don't appreciate the consequences of the choices they're making. We've been collectively accruing a huge amount of looming freedom debt in exchange for what is little more than convenience baubles and brand fetishism, and that debt is about to be collected.

    The internet is what it is right now precisely because it is NOT what all of the power brokers are desperately trying to turn it into.

    And if you don't believe me, take a hint from Tim Berners-Lee, whom you may remember from inventing-the-damn-internet fame:

    Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality: Scientific American

    "Debate has risen again in the past year about whether government legislation is needed to protect net neutrality. It is. Although the Internet and Web generally thrive on lack of regulation, some basic values have to be legally preserved."



    If there's one thing we can be 100% confident in, it's the corporatocracy's unrelenting assault on our opportunities to make choices. The perfect world, in their collective perspective, is the one with the absolute fewest restrictions and safeguards against their ability to separate us from our money. Access to information is the only thing keeping the tug-of-war relationship even marginally 'balanced', and if we lose control over that access, the advantage will tip irrevocably in their favor, and we'll all end up permanently face-down in the mud.
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    Hope you have a better understanding on the implications of what may just be happening in D.C. right now.

    Scott
     
  2. Rae

    Rae Club Coordinator

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    Glad you posted this, I was seriously considering posting something similar. Net neutrality is critical if information is going to travel freely and uncensored. And in this age of corporate controlled media (ALL MEDIA) the internet is the only place for truly unbiased (if sometimes crazy) information.
     
  3. jcauseyfd

    jcauseyfd New Member

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    You probably should have posted some info from the other side of the debate.
     
  4. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    OK. This is all very interesting. But what happens when our money grubbing government gets their claws into it? There is not one thing our government touches that doesn't get screwed up and that costs us in the end.

    Yet another way for them to profit.

    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

    An interesting little excerpt from our Declaration of Independence. I find it sad that they foresaw our problems over 200 years ago and that we can't see where all this is headed when it is laid out right in front of us.

    Scary times indeed. :(
     
  5. Michigan Mini

    Michigan Mini New Member

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    Hmm, who to trust? The money grubbing government or the money grubbing capitalists?

    Cheers!
    Chris
     
  6. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    Trust?! Hell, I don't trust either of them! :cornut:
     
  7. Michigan Mini

    Michigan Mini New Member

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    :Thumbsup:
     
  8. versus

    versus Active Member

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    Good post Scott. I was having this talk with a family member the other day. I'm not sure I'd draw the same parallels between net neutrality and, say, xbox live however. My rationale for this is that the internet was an organic creation with many different parts coming together, whether it was government, schools, or private industry. The end result is the internet we have today.

    Xbox live on the other hand was designed to put MS licensed content on the web for subscribers to enjoy. If we're going to talk about access being restricted we could easily throw in region locked DVDs. My personal view on modded Xbox's is this: Mod to your hearts content, it is your property and you should be able to do with it as you please (as a recent court case showed), so if modding allows you to play region locked xbox games I see no problem. However, if you use the mod to cheat on xbox live I think you should be prevented from using that system.

    To get back on topic, designating ISP's as common carriers would be nice, but their argument is that they built the network (like Xbox live) and should determine how it works.
     
  9. Zeyk_Shade

    Zeyk_Shade Member

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    At what point does Internet Access become a Utility. Like water and power? If I had more than 2 choices for wireline internet access in my area, I'd be more willing to let Comcast do with its network as it pleases. Problem is, Comcast is a "last mile" provider with a terminating-monopoly on their business.

    You can't use Cox Cable or Cablevision in my area since they simply aren't available and the last mile connections are owned by Comcast. Typically they didn't build up these networks. They simply purchased them from other smaller cable companies through the years after they'd been built.

    The new NN regs are pretty straight forward for wireline providers though. It's the wireless providers that have been let off the hook thanks to a powerful lobby from Verizon with the backing of Google(interestingly, Google was all for 100% neutrality for wireless providers until Verizon started being buddy buddy with them for the Android OS). What you're going to end up with is this: You pay for your data plan, then you pay for the type of data you use based on classifications that they want to arbitrarily use. In essense, you're paying for water service, but then get charged again if you want to make a soup with that water. If you want to use the water for Tea or Coffee, different charge on top of what you've already paid.

    The argument for allowing wireless providers to have this kind of control over their network is: "Well, if you don't like it, switch providers." While there are more providers that consumers can switch to, it's often difficult to do this with Contract Agreements and early termination fees coupled with GSM vs. CDMA networks. You may purchase a phone that won't let you simply switch to another network. Switching to another network could cause consumers to pay ETFs, startup fees, new phone purchases and porting fees.

    The FCC had to make a compromise to get Wireline Neutral. This was it. This is only the beginning of the battle too. The wireless carriers are going to battle this in court just to get precedents set to use later to screw consumers over in the future. Pretty much a certainty that the Corporate Oligarchy will fight tooth and nail for yet another way to keep us under thumb.
     
  10. 1r53

    1r53 New Member

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    Keep the government out of my life, leave the net alone, just one more way for them to tell me what I can and cannot do.
     
  11. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    We could always not buy what they are selling, but too many of us think we actually "need" all these digital leashes in our lives.
     
  12. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Well it has already been proven that some net providers are actively slowing down connection speeds depending on the program being used, specifically torrent applications and P2P programs. And in some cases even streaming video.
     

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