NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Two NN Events Tomorrow (Well, Today)
At 10:09 PM 3/10/2008, Seth Johnson wrote: >Two events tomorrow, same time: > >Susan Crawford will speak to the House Judiciary Committee, along with >Damian Kulash of OK Go, Michele Combs of Christian Coalition of >America, Rick Carnes of Songwriters Guild of America, Caroline >Fredrickson of ACLU, and Christopher Yoo of University of >Pennsylvania: > >Susan has the bigger task, I think, as she will deal with Christopher >Yoo's odd indirection, Actually, Dr. Yoo was brilliant (and I'm not just saying that because he mentioned our WISP and also the specific issues related to wireless ISPs). Ms. Crawford, while she spoke very intelligently as well, did conjure up some straw men and bogeyment. And, amazingly, she stated that independent wireless providers such as myself do not exist -- even though there are more than 8,000 of us! (As I walked through the Capitol Hill district, I saw lots of wireless Internet gear on the rooftops -- apparently installed by an outfit called DC wireless.) >and apparently copyright stakeholders are being >thrown into the mix (which really is off the point, but it suggests >the level the proceeding will be starting from). Copyright infringement is very relevant. As Rick Carnes observed, because 90% of P2P is illegal and network congestion on today's Internet is primarily largely caused by P2P, better enforcement of intellectual property rights and a serious crackdown on piracy would likely help quite a great deal to remedy congestion problems. >However, if she is true to form, she can be expected to make the >single most important point that needs to be stressed as the >discussion moves toward "network management" and "quality of service" >-- that the Internet platform is general purpose. This is the most >important technical point that must always be incorporated in the >discussion of NN, which will allow us to distinguish what really is >problematic and what is not. The term "general purpose" has many shades of meaning and can be framed in many ways in this situation. The "purpose" of stealing intellectual property is not one we want for the Internet even if the Internet enables it. Nor is the "purpose" of disrupting the network itself. --Brett Glass