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One side says "protect us" the other side says "protect us" ... which side to take?
The following are the latest developments in the realm of proposed legislation in the "net neutrality" issue...
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We've been bashing both sides of the net neutrality debate for stretching their arguments to ridiculous extremes -- but what's bothersome is that even when things are clearly untrue and been disproved, they're still being trotted out as arguments. The question really, is whether or not the people making the arguments know they're being dishonest and keep at it. With some of the arguments it's hard to see how people can legitimately believe what they're saying. Techdirt - USA
Having the federal government regulate the speed at which data is carried over public and private Internet networks would make Internet providers legally liable if some data crossed its networks faster than other data. The online phrase for this is "net neutrality" and it's meant to prohibit non-existent "discrimination" on the Internet. National Center for Policy Analysis - Dallas,TX, USA
The World Wide Web is the most democratic mass medium there has ever been. Anyone with an Internet-connected computer can reach out to a potential audience of billions. Centre Daily Times - Centre County, PA, USA
The Internet community needs to force regulators to preserve net neutrality. But it'll be tricky to write laws that define net neutrality without destroying what they're trying to protect, says Internet activist Cory Doctorow. InformationWeek - Manhasset, NY, USA
The Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006, which has been best known as one of the battlegrounds for network neutrality, is coming up for a vote today in the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. Ars Technica - Boston, MA, USA
A Senate vote on the controversial network neutrality issue was delayed Thursday, with a resolution not expected until at least Tuesday. San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
The author makes several good points but he misses the main concerns of those in favor of "Net neutrality.". First, there is the fear that the telecommunication companies will begin requiring all content providers (including very small ones, non-profits, schools and municipalities) to pay additional fees to keep their sites accessible to all Web users. This would be in addition to the hosting/connection fees that are currently paid by these entities. A second and more sinister concern involves the possibility for censorship. If the telecoms are given the ability to restrict access based on who pays, there is nothing to prevent them from doing so for other, non-capitalistic reasons. Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ, USA
Content providers and grassroots activists tried to preserve net neutrality in that bill by adding regulations that would have prevented telephone and cable San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA
What are they arguing? That net neutrality would needlessly regulate the Internet without evidence of harm. (See www.NetCompetition.org and www.HandsOff.org.). Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia,PA, USA
As a US Senate panel prepares for a vote on Net neutrality legislation this week, state attorneys general in New York and California are joining Internet ZDNet - USA
As AT&T continues its battles with net neutrality proponents on Capitol Hill this week, I thought it would be interesting to see where AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre has been spending his own money this campaign and election cycle. ZDNet - USA
day of the US Senate Commerce Committee's debate on a massive communications bill ended without any votes related to the divisive concept of net neutrality. Silicon.com - UK
The controversy over net neutrality has received what could be a real alternative. Two groups, one called Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and the other group called New Yorkers for Fair Use are both proposing a new plan that will allow broadband service providers to create tiered networks but only for specific customers and applications. DailyTech - Chicago,IL, USA
Two US states have been dragged into the Net Neutrality battle as the dispute widens to state-level officials. Later this week a Senate panel will vote on Net Neutrality legislation, and two state attorneys general have lent their support to a neutral internet.
In a letter to the US Senate Commerce Committee, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has backed Google, EBay and other internet companies who are calling for a ban on ISPs cutting deals with some web firms to give them preferential access to users over their networks. Out-Law.com - London,England,UK
The newspaper of record in our nation's capital, The Washington Post, correctly observes that the rhetoric around net neutrality "has concealed more than it has illuminated." However the reporter, Jeffrey Birnbaum, parrots elements of the carrier's arguments in his column, "No Neutral Ground in This Internet Battle." He fails to provide both sides of the argument in full, suggesting repeatedly that the carriers' are the aggreived parties. ZDNet - USA
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will vote on the contentious issue of Net neutrality, a positive-sounding yet destructive idea that would allow the government to regulate away the future of the Internet. CNET News.com
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