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[IP] more on NYCwireless Network Neutrality Broadband Challenge





Begin forwarded message:

From: Rahul Tongia <tongia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 2, 2005 4:22:18 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] more on NYCwireless Network Neutrality Broadband Challenge

My engineer brain is overwhelmed by my real-world brain. There are so many grey areas here in the rules...

1) Lawful depends on not absolute (federal/constitutional) laws but also on consumer laws, contracts *between* firms, etc. 2) What does that say about end-to-end encryption, just to pick one issue? 3) "do not harm the network?" Isn't that something subject that the network operator can arbitrarily decide. P2P (esp. torrents) cause a lot of traffic, ergo they harm the network. Heck, some networks are even built with specific traffic patterns in mind (linked to revenues!) so something that harms that design also harms their revenues, so it's definitely got to go! 4) What happens when we only have a few choices in the marketplace, as is increasingly happening? "Free choice" becomes less meaningful when we have an oligopoly emerge.

[this is only with NYC in mind, let alone developing countries...

Rahul

************************************************************************
Rahul Tongia, Ph.D.
Systems Scientist

School of Computer Science (ISRI) / Dept. of Engineering & Public Policy
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
tel: 412-268-5619
fax: 412-268-2338
email: tongia@xxxxxxx

--On Wednesday, November 02, 2005 4:00 PM -0500 David Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



Begin forwarded message:

From: Keith Dawson <kadawson@xxxxxxx>
Date: November 2, 2005 3:19:13 PM EST
To: dana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] NYCwireless Network Neutrality Broadband Challenge

Dana --

Broadband Challenge: http://www.nycwireless.net/tiki-index.php?
page=BroadbandChallange

The four principles of Network Neutrality listed at this URL are:

(1) consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content
     of their choice;

(2) consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their
     choice, subject to the needs of  law enforcement;

(3) consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices
     that do not harm the network; and

(4) consumers are entitled to competition among network providers,
     application and service providers, and content providers.

You will not get a single one of the major broadband providers to
sign up for this list. To the best of my knowledge, no major cable
or DSL provider allows point (2); all expressly forbid end users
(or "consumers" as they consider us) to run any kind of server. The
only DSL provider I have heard of who explicitly allows customers
to run servers, without buying a $200/mo. "business" access package,
is Speakeasy.com. I hope they are among the first to publicly sign
your principles. (Of course, all non-ILEC DSL suppliers such as
Speakeasy are under a death sentence, after the FCC's recent ruling
rolling back the DSL competition that was kicked off in the 1996
telecom reform act.)

-- Keith Dawson

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