[IP] Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality
Begin forwarded message:
From: henry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: November 9, 2005 9:56:29 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality
Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality
11/08/2005 01:21:00 PM
Posted by Alan Davidson, Washington Policy Counsel, DC office
Congress is holding a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, November 8th, on
"network neutrality" and a big new telecommunications bill affecting
the Internet. Vint Cerf, our net neutrality guru, was unable to
testify because of a little awards ceremony at the White House
(congratulations, Vint!), but here is his letter to the Hill
outlining our concerns. Microsoft will be testifying for our side,
demonstrating that inside the Beltway, we agree on a lot.
You can follow the proceedings here -- and we hope you do. This bill
could fundamentally alter the fabulously successful end-to-end Internet.
November 8, 2005
The Honorable Joe Barton
Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable John D. Dingell
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Barton and Ranking Member Dingell,
I appreciate the inquiries by your staff about my availability to
appear before the Committee and to share Google’s views about draft
telecommunications legislation and the issues related to "network
neutrality." These are matters of great importance to the Internet
and Google welcomes the Committee’s hard work and attention. The
hearing unfortunately conflicts with another obligation, and I am
sorry I will not be able to attend. (Along with my colleague Robert
Kahn, I am honored to be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom
on Wednesday at the White House for our work in creating the Internet
protocol TCP/IP.)
Despite my inability to participate in the planned hearing in person,
I hope that you will accept some brief observations about this
legislation.
The remarkable social impact and economic success of the Internet is
in many ways directly attributable to the architectural
characteristics that were part of its design. The Internet was
designed with no gatekeepers over new content or services. The
Internet is based on a layered, end-to-end model that allows people
at each level of the network to innovate free of any central control.
By placing intelligence at the edges rather than control in the
middle of the network, the Internet has created a platform for
innovation. This has led to an explosion of offerings – from VOIP to
802.11x wi-fi to blogging – that might never have evolved had central
control of the network been required by design.
My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the
Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits
network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of
services and to potentially interfere with others would place
broadband operators in control of online activity. Allowing broadband
providers to segment their IP offerings and reserve huge amounts of
bandwidth for their own services will not give consumers the
broadband Internet our country and economy need. Many people will
have little or no choice among broadband operators for the
foreseeable future, implying that such operators will have the power
to exercise a great deal of control over any applications placed on
the network.
As we move to a broadband environment and eliminate century-old non-
discrimination requirements, a lightweight but enforceable neutrality
rule is needed to ensure that the Internet continues to thrive.
Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network
operators should not dictate what people can do online.
I am confident that we can build a broadband system that allows users
to decide what websites they want to see and what applications they
want to use – and that also guarantees high quality service and
network security. That network model has and can continue to provide
economic benefits to innovators and consumers -- and to the broadband
operators who will reap the rewards for providing access to such a
valued network.
We appreciate the efforts in your current draft to create at least a
starting point for net neutrality principles. Google looks forward to
working with you and your staff to draft a bill that will maintain
the revolutionary potential of the broadband Internet.
Thank you for your attention and for your efforts on these important
issues.
Sincerely,
Vinton Cerf
Chief Internet Evangelist
Google Inc.
Permalink |
Links to this post: See links to this post
Copyright © 2005 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy - Terms of Service
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/