| network neutrality is now effecting
every aspect of the internet, whether it's a website, ads, exchanging files,
voip (voice over internet protocol), surfing the net or any other activity
online. network neutrality is generally defined as all content and all
protocols are equal and treated equally. with ever expanding net applications
this appears to create a problem in bandwidth scarcity - real or contrived.
information online travels in
packets over the wire. think of this as vehicles on a road. when there
are too many vehicles on a road that is now over capacity, all vehicles
move slower. it is identical with packets. as with roads, the wires become
congested. more wire can be added at additional cost, just as roads are
added or made wider to handle increased traffic. (In this context wireless
is included as part of wired)
the beginning of the internet
was used for research and information exchange, usually in text files.
today, there are many more applications such as email, telephony, entertainment
(radio, tv, movies, music, etc), file exchange, telecommuting, and much
more.
companies are moving applications
from offline to online to save costs. often, you, the consumer, are unaware
of this move. often, you know as it is a convenience to you - online banking
and ordering merchandise are two common examples. telephony is another
example: the traditional telcos now route most long distance calls over
the net rather than through their traditional network.
the net infrastructure was not
designed for the great amounts of packets flowing through the wires. if
you have ever waited for a page to display on the web, or file transfers
that are slow, you are experiencing this slowdown.
ispss (internet service providers)
that provide connectivity must deal with this problem daily while trying
to keep all customers as happy as possible. until recently this was possible
with few noticeable slow-downs. today the situation is different, and will
change in the future. whether the future changes are good is yet to be
seen.
at one time isps charged by the
quantity of packets or the amount of time a user was logged in to the network.
more non-traditional companies went into the isp business realizing the
net is the future. this includes cable and telcos. to obtain customers,
an 'all you can eat' service became available. no longer did anyone pay
per quantity of packets or time.
the internet, and the web in
particular, expanded wildly. today there is a convergence of technologies.
the internet is used for email, shopping, movies, tv, ordering pizza, and
much more. the infrastructure cannot handle this amount of traffic according
to isps. in an effort to keep customers happy isps practice 'traffic shaping'.
this is really prioritizing traffic according to the isps decisions on
importance. keep in mind different isps follow different regulations.
an isp has the ability to interfere
with your packets - to slow them slightly to drastically, and even terminate
connectivity with applications. ispss have the ability to filter anything
online - from applications to web sites to mail - and they are doing
all of this now. no longer are all packets treated equally.
it started with p2p (peer to
peer). it has been proven by the eff - electronic frontier foundation (eff.org)
that comcast terminates p2p applications; (courts have decided p2p has
legal applications); cox has the same complaints but not yet proven;
rogers (canada) inserts account information on google pages (content modification).
is this also copyright violations? these are just three very publicized
experiences. australia and japan now filter (japan on mobile phones) to
'protect minors'. other countries filter based on political or social content.
when does the mission creep begin?
although these incidents may
not be seen as the very real breaking of net neutrality, it may only be
the beginning. comcast is a major content provider of entertainment. what
happens if you decide to rent and download a movie online from another
entertainment company? netflex for example. comcast can throttle your speed
or terminate the netflex connection. verizon and at&tare telcos. if
you choose to make voice calls using skype for instance, verizon or at&t
can throttle your speed or terminate the connection. this discourages (or
may at a later date) prevent someone from using the service or product
of their choice because it is their providers competition.
some may setup web cameras to
watch their children, nanny, pet or property which could stay on much of
the time. will this connection be terminated because too many packets are
used? what applications in the future (presently developed or not) might
have interference by isps?
presently there is some research
in progress, not just with p2p, including net radio and other applications.
your provider does not want you to know what is going on with 'traffic
shaping'. this research causes the information to be available to the public.
customers would be much happier knowing the true terms of service. in any
other industry or business, are you buying a pig in a poke? to change on
the whim of the provider?
a huge issue is the isp sells
an 'all you can eat' service of all packets, while the reality is different
and secret. The fcc announced january 9 it will actively investigate
complaints about comcast interfering in net traffic.
net neutrality is a very important
issue. the decisions made now will effect service for many years. it is
being discussed in many venues to find possible solutions. right now, ispss
honesty would be welcomed.
would you know if your isp
interfered with your online experiences?
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