Posted on 09/18/2009 3:46:21 PM PDT by La Lydia
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, plans to propose a new so-called net neutrality rule Monday that could prevent telecommunications, cable and wireless companies from blocking Internet applications, according to sources at the agency. Genachowski will discuss the rules Monday during a keynote speech at The Brookings Institute. He isn't expected to drill into many details, but the proposal will specifically be for an additional guideline on how operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast can control what goes on their networks. That additional guideline would prevent the operators from discriminating, or act as gatekeepers, of Web content and services.
The guidelines in place today have been criticized by applications developers like Google and public interest groups for not going far enough to clarify what is defined as discriminatory behavior. Comcast is fighting in federal court an FCC ruling that it violated the guidelines by blocking a video application last year. AT&T and Verizon have said existing rules are sufficient, and more regulation is unnecessary. However, they have also said they wouldn't fight against an additional guideline that focuses on discriminatory behavior.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity...The new rule would be the first bold move by Genachowski, who served as President Obama's technology advisor during the campaign and transition. The rule could upset wireless, telecom and cable operators who have fought against regulations that would give them less control over traffic that runs on their networks. They argue that they need to maintain flexibility to manage traffic to ensure some applications don't take up too much bandwidth and make Web access slower for some users....
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
There is way to much truth getting out there. They can’t
allow another point of view to compete.
this would keep companies from blocking data... not the other way around.
Joe Goebbels would be proud.
This is one thing I agree with. The internet access companies should be providing a pipe and not some filtered and massaged access. Anything else is nothing more than bait and switch.
But then rogues can simply hog the internet with sufficiently large denial-of-service attacks in the guise of this service or that. Such as trying to deliver high definition movies in real time.
Now I’m not sure that I understand this altogether. I don’t
like my cable company, but it’s better than the alternatives
If they advertise a pipe and deliver a soup spoon with certain size holes in it, that would be bait and switch. But if they advertise no pipe....
I am very skeptical that anything the Obama administration would be pushing, would be in any way good.
what constitution...we need to find some way to challenge some of this .
Best to wait until the details are available. This administration seems to have a knack for slipping details in which run counter to pronounced purpose of the regulations
Like huge sops to content owners.
I want to see the details, but I’m thankful they went this way rather than trying to ram a bill through congress that would be a stealth way to control communications on the net.
I'm FReaking amazed. :)
Comcast already limits alot of applications as it is, they also throttle down the download speeds if they suspect you of using file sharing programs. This affects your over all browsing speed which they won’t uncap even after you stop using the file sharing programs.
They also shutdown their access to newsgroups citing cost, but it didn’t affect the monthly rate we pay.
Many have speculated it had more to do with conservatives taking to the newsgroups with their message over cost.
The devil is of course in the details... And the White House.
Not really. A lot of the ‘managed traffic’ is torrents and streamed content that cuts into the cable companies’ bottom line.
What this will do is raise internet costs, since this will sharply increase what it costs for ISPs to manage their network.
This reeks of Trojan Horse to me.
Ya mean like “Card Check?” ;)
Time Warner stopped screwing with mine when I told them I’d switch to FIOS if they didn’t quit it immediately. Been getting my full 10mb ever since.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.