NET NEUTRALITYAs of June 11, 2009

Network Neutrality

The principle that the network is free of restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the equipment that may be attached, and on the modes of communication allowed, as well as one where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams. (Wikipedia)

Something Simpler?

Network Neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally.

Early Net Neutrality Concerns

What it looks like today

Stronger legislation supporting Net Neutrality

2007 Comcast blocking or throttling specific uses

2008 Time Warner Cable“Consumption Based Billing”

Arguments AgainstInnovation: more money, more investment

Bandwidth availability

Leveling the playing field

“There’s going to have to be some mechanism for these [Internet upstarts] who use these pipes to pay for the portion they’re using.”

“The Internet can’t be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment.”

Opponents

Large hardware companies

Cable and telecommunication industry

Cisco, 3M

Robert Pepper, Bob Kahn, Gerald Faulhaber

Arguments For

Innovation

Preserving Internet standards

Creates Artificial Scarcity

Free and open communication fosters democracy

Congressman Dorgon told FTC Chairwoman he feared new services as groundbreaking as Google could not get started in a system with price discrimination.

Proponents

Consumer Advocates

Online companies

Technology companies

Google, Yahoo!, Vonage, Ebay, Amazon, Microsoft

Vinton Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, Tim Wu, and Lawrence Lessig