I like the phrase “Net neutrality” because it has some resonance outside of the techie world. But It’s vague and it’s a bit of a compromise. The real way to get Net neutrality is to separate the companies that deliver bits from the companies selling content and services made out of bits. And that’s exactly what a bill passed unanimously (or maybe almost unanimously – reports are ambiguous) by the Dutch Parliament proposes, according to a post by David Isenberg. Writes La Isenberg:

…in my opinion, the only sustainable way to have enforceable network neutrality is to give force of law to the separation between operating the network and operating the services that the network carries. Otherwise, the temptation to gain advantage (.pdf) by tying certain services to the network is so great that US telcos and cablecos are spending an estimated $1.5 million per week to lobby for the privilege. And, unless there’s clear and forceful separation, as per the Dutch resolution above, US telcos and cablecos will spend more lobbying, litigating and legislating against any compromise language about treating different applications differently, or about “deliberate” or “anti-competitive” discrimination. The network carrier should be prohibited legally from knowing or caring what’s carried on network — the Dutch Parliament has proposed one way to do it.

[Tags: berkman net_neutrality]

Categories: Uncategorized dw