The end of Net neutrality?

Panel dumps Net neutrality
House committee drops amendment banning two-tier Internet

Internet carriers would have a free hand to charge the likes of Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. extra for faster delivery of services to consumers under a bill approved by a House committee Wednesday.

The vote, 42-12, brings a two-tier Internet one step closer to reality despite the wishes of a broad coalition of Web site operators and public interest groups that insist the fees will crush innovation.

...

The possibility of separate slow and fast lanes on the Internet has galvanized many of the technology industry's biggest companies, including Google, Yahoo, eBay, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. Although normally rivals, they have forged a united front to oppose the bill they say will give some Web sites an unfair advantage over others and alter the Web's landscape for years to come.

Given the cold reception in the House, the Web companies are turning their efforts to the Senate, where at least one bill requiring network neutrality has been introduced and more may be coming. In a letter Wednesday to Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, they wrote that network neutrality "empowers America's citizenry, fuels our engine of innovation and is central our global leadership in Internet technology and services."

[from the San Francisco Chronicle]

Nobody wants this -- not the Net 800lb gorillas, not small Web site operators (like me!), not regular ol’ surfers -- except the telephone companies (which I’ve mentioned before recently), and now it looks like they’re going to get it.

Why does this matter? As Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo succinctly put it:

Think of it like Cable TV. Anybody can start a cable channel. But if you can't get on TimeWarner Cable here in Manhattan, for me you might as well not even exist. The Internet could work like that.

Little site operators like me -- and in fact, anyone who’s not in a league with the likes of Google and Amazon and AOL -- might as well not exist if this comes to pass. And I am so fed up with how the supposed leaders of the U.S. have done nothing in recent years unless it’s to the benefit of the major corporations that grease their palms that I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to stop this.

Better and more optimistic people that I am are trying, though. MyDD has a roundup of online efforts, including the somewhat ironically named Save the Internet.com.

This really does affect everyone -- the Net has moved far beyond being a playground for geeks, as Columbia Law prof and telecommunications expert Tim Wu said when he testified before Congress about the Net neutrality bill:

Once upon a time the internet was a kind of toy, used by hobbyists, scientists, and geeks. But today it's something different: it has become part of America's basic infrastructure. It has become as essential to people and to the economy as the roads, the electric grid, or the telephone. It's an infrastructure that people and firms depend on for everyday activities, whether planning weddings, managing investments, or running a small business.

And everyone is starting to feel this:

Judge: Employee Web surfing not unreasonable

NEW YORK (AP) -- Surfing the Web at work is equivalent to reading a newspaper or talking on the phone, an administrative law judge said in recommending the lightest possible punishment for a city worker accused of disregarding warnings to stay off the Internet.

The case involved Toquir Choudhri, a 14-year veteran of the Department of Education, whose office computer had been used to visit news and travel Web sites.

"It should be observed that the Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or a daily newspaper, providing a combination of communication and information that most employees use as frequently in their personal lives as for their work," Administrative Law Judge John Spooner said in recommending only a reprimand for Choudhri.

The judge noted that city agencies allow workers to make personal calls if it doesn't interfere with their work performance.

Choudhri's lawyer, Martin Druyan, called the ruling "very reasonable."

[from the AP via CNN.com]

The Net: enjoy it while it lasts.