[IP] Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 9, 2005 7:50:07 PM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Note: This item comes from reader Mike Cheponis. DLH]
November 09, 2005
Feds May Let Big Telecom Hijack The Internet
<http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/archives/2005/11/
feds_may_let_bi.html>
The feds are holding hearings today on a bill that could essentially
allow big Telcos to hijack the Internet. The law would regulate
Internet Protocol and broadband services, and it would let the big
providers block services and net access, and possibly worse as well.
The proposal before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's
Subcommittee on Telecommunications is rather arcane, and I'll cover
it in a bit of detail in future blogs. But the gist is clear: It
would end the era of Internet openness, and give Big Telecom a big
financial windfall.
Don't believe me? Then maybe you'll believe the person who to a great
extent invented the Internet, Vincent Cerf.
In written testimony to the committee, Cerf warns: "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."
He goes on to say, "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."
You can read his full testimony on the Google blog: <http://
googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/vint-cerf-speaks-out-on-net-
neutrality.html>
Ironically, today Cerf is going to receive the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, along with Robert Kahn, for designing the open protocols
that underly the Internet. If anyone knows about the implications of
this bill, it's Cerf --- and the law could go a long way to harm the
world-changing network he helped create.
Posted by Preston Gralla at 10:14 AM
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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