The Net as PUBLIC UTILITY

The net should be a public utility, forever neutral, where all bits are created equal and not sliced up into preferred bits vs unpreferred bits based on monies paid to a given ISP by a content provider in order to juice up bit speed in delivering content to people able to pay the extra fees in order to get said content at faster rates at the expense of smaller entities like BRT, a situation that, in time, would wreak havoc on a chaotic and bit neutral system that works due to the universally agreed upon and applied open standards protocols defining how the net functions as a communications construct for the world.   If a two tiered system becomes the norm, the underlying tech would eventually be compromised as the big players would develop, in effect, proprietary methodologies to improve their net speeds while the rest of the web would devolve into an afterthought because of the eventual elimination of the universal application of OS technology that keeps all bits equal on today's internet, the most complex communication system every designed by man.

With this in mind, the net should become a public utility, forever allowed to run without the Wheelers of the world trying to game the system with Orwellian weasel words akin to how politicians defend the indefensable with turgid and abstract prose designed to confuse and disguise the real intentions of the enterprise that is committing the indefensible, something Orwell knew all to well when writing Politics and the English Language.

Interesting enough, Netflix, the larges content provider on the net, wants Net Neutrality big time as they realize what would happen if the Verizon's of the world got their way. 

Unfortunately, Verizon successfully challenged the U.S. net neutrality rules. In principle, a domestic ISP now can legally impede the video streams that members request from Netflix, degrading the experience we jointly provide. The motivation could be to get Netflix to pay fees to stop this degradation. Were this draconian scenario to unfold with some ISP, we would vigorously protest and encourage our members to demand the open Internet they are paying their ISP to deliver. 

Addendum: Click here to read Wheelering and Dealing at the FCC. You won't be disappointed.

Click the FCC logo to send your comments about Net Neutrality directly to the FCC, 

it's the right thing to do.