Net Neutrality vs. Packet Priority
Recent letters and TV advertisements have presented net
neutrality in terms of cost to consumers.
Indeed, most consumers are probably only aware of net neutrality as an
abstraction related to the cost of upgrading the internet. The real story merits everyone’s attention
beyond the threat of higher prices.
The existing alliterative title could be renamed
“content neutrality.” It really means
that the internet itself is blind (or neutral) to what data (or content) is being
transmitted. When you go to any site of
your choice now, the site provides the data and pays for the access speed from
their end. The consumer initiates the
transmission of data and pays according to the speed of delivery. This process is independent of the content
being transmitted and all data is treated equally regardless of its source or
destination.
Ultimately, ISPs are looking for the chance to bill the
content providers not only for the speed of transmission but also for what is
being transmitted. ISPs want web sites
to pay extra to prioritize data packets for high speed. If ISPs get their way, even though you and
your favorite web sites pay premium prices for broadband, many of those same
sites will be relegated to dial-up speeds because their data is of lower
priority than the bigger companies who pay more. Sort of like if we were all diverted to one congested
lane on the highway while the Wal-Mart trucks zoom by in the open lanes.
Ensuring net neutrality means that you get the speed
and access that you pay for instead of what your ISP finds financially
convenient to provide. On the other
hand, allowing service providers to assign packet priority will stifle web
content and provide a potentially sinister means to control information.
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