Monday, November 11, 2013

Net Neutrality is "a Dead Man Walking"


Are we about to see stronger Net Neutrality in the US?

Marvin Ammori [pictured], a Future Tense Fellow at the New America Foundation and a lawyer who represents technology companies on internet policy issues, thinks not.

"Net neutrality is a dead man walking. The execution date isn’t set, but it could be days, or months (at best). And since net neutrality is the principle forbidding huge telecommunications companies from treating users, websites, or apps differently — say, by letting some work better than others over their pipes — the dead man walking isn’t some abstract or far-removed principle just for wonks: It affects the internet as we all know it".



"the second most powerful court in the nation behind the Supreme Court, the DC Circuit [here] - is set to strike down the nation’s net neutrality law, a rule adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 2010 [see "Net Neutrality Approval Reopens US Market for DPI and Policy Management" - here]. Some will claim the new solution “splits the baby” in a way that somehow doesn’t kill net neutrality and so we should be grateful. But make no mistake: Despite eight years of public and political activism by multitudes fighting for freedom on the internet, a court decision may soon take it away".

"Of course, despite everything the judges suggested during the two-hour argument, it’s possible that they offer net neutrality a reprieve. Given how sticky this morass is, there’s one simple way for you to judge the opinion: If the court throws out the non-discrimination rule, permission-less innovation on the internet as we know it is done. If the nondiscrimination rule miraculously survives, then, for now at least, so too will freedom on the internet"

See "We’re About to Lose Net Neutrality — And the Internet as We Know It" - here.

1 comment:

  1. Here's a short mockumentary that really highlights a lot of these issues: http://www.theinternetmustgo.com/

    Plus, there's a Gigi Sohn cameo to keep an eye out for.

    ReplyDelete