[BC] The "Net Neutrality" proper position to have ??

[Kevin Trueblood]

Personally I think Net Neutrality is a no-brainer.

The idea of Net Neutrality is if you buy access to the Internet you are given equal and all access to whatever you want online.  Providers can charge you a "tiered" amount or throttle your usage during peak demands (like bitTorrent users), but they can't control what it is you do online.  Providers who haven't already started throttled or tiered usage will if Net Neutrality doesn't pass.  

What ISPs would like to do is control how you experience the Internet.  The Google/Verizon proposal basically created two paths to the Internet:  One that was fast but content was controlled by Google, or one that was slow, unreliable, but open.  By content controlled by Google, it means that access to certain content could be completely controlled by paid advertisers.  Rush Limbaugh could pay to have the Huffington Post's site be slow or parts redirected to his site.  What that comes down is, would you like to get online on this fast tollroad where all the restaurants are McDonalds or this old dirt road filled with potholes that will take you three times as long but you have more choices?

I should note that the Google/Verizon proposal is for Wireless only, but that seems to be where things are headed.  

As I said, I think it's a no-brainer.  Given that most of our communications are online now and the rest will be soon, do you really want someone controlling what you do and see?    As Mark said, if it were the government proposing this, would you feel different?

Kevin