Net Neutrality

[boffo]

Can someone who understands it and isn't a frothing ideologue explain net neutrality to me? What is it, and why do some people think it's good and some people think it's bad? Note that if you're going to argue that the people who disagree with you only do so because they're stupid poopy-heads, I'd prefer to hear from someone who actually

Comments

[boffo]

Thanks. That's helpful.

Here is my understanding of the issue, copy/pasted from Facebook. Would you say this is accurate:

1. Due to certain regulations, ISPs enjoy a semi-monopoly.

2. This monopoly allows them to engage in behavior that wouldn't work in the free market.

3. Net-Neutrality prevents them from using their semi-monopoly power to engage in anti-competitive behavior, such as throttling the bandwidth of their competitors.

4. Net Neutrality also prevents them from engaging in beneficial behavior, such as throttling the bandwidth of spammers or giving discounts to customers who cost them less money. It will probably result in consumers paying more on average.

5. It's conceivable that without net neutrality Comcast could shut down a website that criticizes Comcast. It's also conceivable that the FCC could use net neutrality rules to shut down websites that are critical of the government. But neither of these scenarios are very likely. People on both sides claim their side is pro-free speech because they know everyone is in favor of free speech.

[mudita]

That's an insightful summary. Any interest in turning it into a 600 or 700 word article for the Atlasphere along the lines of "Understanding Net Neutrality"? I think it's an area where a lot of people still have only the vaguest understanding, if any, and your explanation could be helpful.

[boffo]

I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject to write an article. I don't think you'd want one saying "Here's what some dudes on the internet explained to me about Net Neutrality."

But maybe you should ask scottsch, as he understands this stuff a lot more than I do.