[ NNSquad ] Re: Comcast using Sandvine to Interfere with P2P

[Brett Glass <nnsquad@brettglass.com>]

At 10:41 PM 11/10/2007, Jay Sulzberger wrote:

>The phrase "Net Neutrality" has been bad for our side.  The right
>word is "common carriage".  Under the rule of common carriage,
>when you and I send Net packets over the various pipes between us
>the transport companies must not wiretap and they must not
>whimsically degrade our streams.

Even if ISPs were considered to be "common carriers" (which, in some
ways, I wish we were, because the cable and telephone companies would
be forced to interconnect with us and give us fair pricing), we would
still have the right to stop abuse and criminal activity. A railroad 
is a common carrier, but it has the right to stop a robber on the 
train. It also has a right to insist that passengers remain orderly 
and not (for example) commit vandalism or harass other passengers. 
Likewise, a power company is a common carrier, but it has the right
to insist that customers not steal power or damage its lines. To
claim that ISPs have no right to monitor their networks is akin to
saying that a railroad has no right to have a conductor on the train
who might keep you from robbing other passengers or vandalizing
the train.

I have an absolute right to prevent my network from being abused and
to enforce my (very reasonable) terms of service.

--Brett Glass