Neutral Policy

CDT: Focused Internet Neutrality Legislation Warranted To Protect Open Internet: “In the absence of legislated safeguards, there is a real risk that today’s network operators could choose not to retain the core elements of Internet neutrality. This risk, and the potential consequences, are simply too great to take no action. Once new, non-neutral networks and business arrangements have been put in place, overturning them is likely to be extremely difficult. Legislation is warranted to ensure that neutrality will continue to be factored into network architecture and business plans from the start.”
Full CDT report: Preserving the Essential Internet
Daniel Weitzner, MIT: The Neutral Internet: “The debate thus far, however, has proceeded on the mistaken assumption that this is an either/or choice; that we have to choose between a non-discriminatory, slow, insecure network or a potentially discriminatory, high-speed, cleaner Internet tied together with other broadband services. This paper argues that it is possible to preserve the neutral, non-discriminatory essence of the Internet, without sacrificing future growth of new Internet services and other broadband infrastructure.”
NewsForge: Today’s cell phone system argues for retaining network neutrality: “It turns out that we have a privately owned and controlled network all around us, one that closely mirrors the technical functionality of the Internet, but where there has never been a requirement for net neutrality: the US cellular phone network.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) pledges to hold any telecom bill that does not protect a neutral internet: Wyden Blocks Telecom Legislation Over Ineffective Net Neutrality Provision: “The bill makes a number of major changes in the country`s telecommunications law but there is one provision that is nothing more than a license to discriminate. Without a clear policy preserving the neutrality of the Internet and without tough sanctions against those who would discriminate, the Internet will be forever changed for the worse. This one provision threatens to divide the Internet into technology `haves” and `have nots.” This one provision concentrates even more power in the hands of the special interests that own the pipelines to the Internet.”
And finally, a modest proposal for broadband policy from Andy Kessler in The Weekly Standard: Give Me Bandwidth… No one to root for in the net neutrality debate: “Telcos and cable companies have no choice but to lobby for legislation that bars neutrality. Because without the ability to extract money from the webbies for the use of their not-so-fast Alexander Graham Bell-era wires (forget that you and I already overpay for this), AT&T or Verizon might not have any business model going forward. With no real competition, they’d rather keep U.S. telecommunications in the Flintstone era and overcharge for calls to Grandma than upgrade their networks. Since 1998, telecommunications companies have outspent computer and Internet firms on politicians $231 million to $71 million, just to keep the status quo.”