will the internet soon be like cable?

[hollyglight]

will this be the end of the free search for information on the internet? Is Canada the testing ground for the rest of the world? I guess it was a matter of time....

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20330.htm

Comments

[likealion]

It will kill the internet if that happens. The internet is what it is today because it is easy (and generally cheap) to access it. Take that away, and you take away the profitability of having services on the internet. All of these companies that make a living off of it will go away (Google anyone?). I don't see this happening... I can see some ISP's trying to do it... but I don't see it succeeding or becoming common.

I think that what is more likely is that ISP's will start charging you for the amount of bandwidth you use. They already do this in some countries. The people that use the internet the most will pay the most. It will suck for the majority of internet users here. But, I see it happening.

[hollyglight]

thought this will be somewhat similar to how traditional knowledge formats are transmitted.... the way that knowledge gets disseminated through books, magazines, journals, etc. is certainly not the free exchange of ideas we sometimes like to think it is. like--
books published by certain companies get more traffic than books published by small publishers. The corporate sponsored voices are often heard louder and sooner than the unsponsored voices...and...well.... deep pockets often determine who's voices get heard at all. i'm so all for net neutrality,and I think it would be an utter failure of democracy for net neutrality to be squelched.....

[likealion]

Oh yeah, i'm completely in agreement on all of that.