Net neutrality = Permission-free Internet
April 25, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter
And AT&T = nightmare
Here is a 'must=see' video that explains why discrimination on the
Internet is a problem and will continue to be as long as net neutrality
rules are not enforced:
youtube.com
IP Democracy: "Main
April 25, 2006
Cerf: We Need to Preserve Permission-Free Internet
Cerf argued against the concept of a two-tiered Internet advocated by some broadband providers, telcos in particular. He recapped the idea that the Internet is built on an end-to-end principle, with one user paying for his access on one end and the other user paying for her access on the other end. Once each endpoint access is paid for, the two users are free to communicate back and forth.
“The reason that’s important is that the network allows people to do pretty much what they want to do. You don’t have to ask permission from the ISP,” Cerf said. “The permission-free way to the Internet has fostered all kinds of innovation.”
Broadband providers, therefore, shouldn’t have the right to alter users’ access to Internet content and applications based on the deals they cut. “They [users] should not be constrained by broadband carriers based on deals they made with someone else,” Cerf said.
He also advocated that broadband should be symmetrical. The notion that individual users might someday own their own servers for transmitting massive amounts of information across the Internet is not a far-fetched one, Cerf said.
Without symmetrical upstream communications, innovation is slowed.