[opendtv] Re: FCC issues net neutrality rules in face of Congress and carriers
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:09:14 -0500
Michael Enright wrote:
> Network neutrality is about making sure that carriers
> like cable companies and phone companies allow datagrams
> to flow without regard to what's in them. For example, if
> the datagram contains a Skype packet, net neutrality
> would mean that AT&T U-Verse would not block it or impair
> its transmission relative to how it would be treated if
> AT&T didn't know what it was. It would mean that you
> could keep using Google as your search engine even if
> Verizon tried to make a deal with Yahoo.
True, and it can also mean that all networks must carry all TV over Internet
streams available out there for no extra fee, potentially cutting into their
own TV subscription services. And since you bring up Skype, net neutrality also
can easily cut into the ISP's own VoIP service, for which it typically charges
a separate fee from the network connectivity.
> This discussion of asymmetrical bandwidth to the home just
> distracts from the pros and cons of the true idea of net
> neutrality, in a way that favors the big ISPs that have
> interests at odds with neutrally delivering packets.
It's one dimension of the problem. If we become too stuck on net neutrality, it
seems clear to me that the ISPs will be discouraged from upgrading their
networks. Exactly the same thing happened when the Telecom Act of 1996
attempted to unbundle the ADSL lines from the telcos. Guess what? That put the
breaks on any ADSL deployment, to the point that the cable networks got a
virtual monopoly on broadband for many years.
I'm certainly not an ISP, so I have no dogs in this race. It just seems to me
that every time the feds get overly ambitious about something that makes for
good sound bytes, they forget to take into consideration the law of unintended
consequences. "Net neutrality" seems like it can EASILY become an overly
punitive mandate on those on whom we are counting to deploy broadband.
Bert
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