Some links on network neutrality


Susan Crawford: FCC/Congress; rules/no rules: “Now, in the substrate neutrality debate (still looking for a better term — maybe we should give up and go back to ‘information superhighway’ ideas — how about ‘open roads’?) I’ve come to believe that someone, some government actor, has to get involved.  This is a big shift, and it’s happening (for me, at least) because there isn’t any real competition in the market for unfettered internet access.  Indeed, there’s no competition at all in that marketplace.  All the big guys believe that they should own and control and prioritize.”
Erick Schonfeld, B2Day: Powell Warns Net Neutrologists Not to Be Naive: “Former FCC chairman Michael Powell is up on the stage at the Freedom to Connect conference right now, and he warns the tech elite crowd here not to be naive about the dangers of asking Congress for legislation on Net Neutrality.”
Dana Blankenhorn, ZDNet Open Source: Is the Network Neutrality bill in trouble?: “After a day at the Freedom2Connect conference outside Washington, I am afraid that Senator Ron Wyden’s Network Neutrality bill may be going nowhere this year.”
Martin Geddes, F2C Network Neutrality Speech: “Within the current funding and construction approach to networks, I believe a network neutrality law is a tactical, practical, strategic and philosophical error. It takes us further away from Freedom to Connect.”
Ed Felten discusses how a non-neutral internet would differ from today’s internet Discrimination, Congestion, and Cooperation: “I’ve been writing lately about the nuts and bolts of network discrimination. Today I want to continue that discussion by talking about how the Internet responds to congestion, and how network discrimination might affect that response.”
David Weinberger: Why I don’t love my computer any more: “As DRM locks down my machine so that it becomes more like a TV, I’m going to feel more alienated from it.”
Will the same thing happen if the Internet is balkanized into a series of somewhat connected proprietary network? In the absence of a law requiring network neutrality, will consumers have the market power to demand true internet access?

Andrew Raff @andrewraff