Recently Google and Verizon issued a joint comment on net neutrality. This proposal has generated a great deal of buzz (some links provided at the end of this post) and Google has responded in defense of the proposal.
So, what is network neutrality and why should you care.
I would suggest that the core idea in net neutrality is that companies who provide access to the Internet will not advantage themselves or other companies. How might this happen? Filtering and traffic prioritization would be examples. If you are in education, you are likely familiar with filtering. A school, for example, often filters some web sites preventing students using the school network from accessing these sites. Traffic prioritization means that the rate at which packets of a certain type (e.g., video, content from a given service) are passed on is modified relative to other packet types. A contrasting position would be that the company providing access simply treat all content as equivalent (neutrality). Of course there are reasons for exercising control. Schools already filter. My university prioritizes when necessary to keep the demand from the University under a certain predefined limit (for a cheaper rate from the provider). Institutions, however, are really not functioning as commercial providers. When you pay a monthly fee to the cable company, you probably do not expect you are operating under such controls.
There are obvious ways in which providers could operate in their own self interest. DSL is likely provided by a company also making money providing phone services. If you get your Internet service from a cable company, you likely also get video content from that same company. The cable company loses a revenue opportunity if you decide to stream netflix movies rather than watch movies on demand from the cable provider. The phone company loses a revenue opportunity if you make use of Skype rather than a long distance service. Companies would be violating net neutrality if the company made it more difficult to use VOIP or streaming.
The neutrality issue is different from the issue of data caps. Data caps concern paying different amounts of money depending on how much content you access. While a content category such as video would certainly burn through the capacity allowed more quickly, the provider should not block or slow access to this category.
All of this gets even more complex because companies can use different reasons for applying a specific control. For example, a cable company may contend that video downloads are taxing the system and as a way to maintain quality service argue the need to downgrade the rate at which video packets are passed on. Of course, the video service offered by the company would also benefit as a consequence.
The joint Google/Verizon proposal is difficult to interpret. The proposal begins by advocating for net neutrality. Then come the additional suggestions. My take on the controversy is that the additional suggestions leave open possibilities that may undermine the initial commitment. Excerpts from two suggestions follow.
- Network Management: Broadband Internet access service providers are permitted to engage in reasonable network management. Reasonable network management includes any technically sound practice: to reduce or mitigate the effects of congestion on its network; ………
- Additional Online Services: A provider that offers a broadband Internet access service complying with the above principles could offer any other additional or differentiated services. Such other services would have to be distinguishable in scope and purpose from broadband Internet access service, but could make use of or access Internet content, applications or services and could include traffic prioritization.
For the paranoid:
- does this mean that a company that controls the capacity of a network could hold at the present level of capacity and then “manage” traffic when capacity is congested
- does this mean a company could stop investing in the present type of infrastructure driving traffic to premium and online services where profit opportunities and control would be greater.
There are many sites weighing in this issue:
ReadWriteWeb
Wired
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Engadget
Moveon.org has organized a campaign urging Google not be evil
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