NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Cloud Computing is going to make Broadband and Neutrality even more important for the Internet
Amy, what exactly are we trying to preserve? What is it that network operators are blocking or censoring today (or might block in the future) that we need to stop? This vague and hypothetical threat has been perpetuated by the hard line Net Neutrality backers. Most engineers and the architects of the Internet want to preserve what we have on the Internet today and believe that users should continue to be able to use the application of their choice so long as they paid for access. That shouldn't be construed to rule out cheaper $15/month network services that offer only one application like the Peek simply email device which only allows its users to check email but restricts all other applications on the Internet. It shouldn't rule out the kind of free network access you get on the Kindle where Amazon limits you to a list of blogs and news sites they have partnerships with. It shouldn't rule out phone-only Internet access where you pay less to not have the ability to attach the computer, but you have the freedom to pay more for a service that does allow you to attach a computer. The problem is that all the Net Neutrality proposals aren't trying to preserve the Internet; they're trying to change the Internet to something it has never been. All the Net Neutrality proposals seek to ban differentiated pricing where you get more service if you pay more money. The latest proposal even outlaws network operators from charging application/content providers for client-side access and that would immediately outlaw devices like the Amazon Kindle where users currently don't have to directly pay for their own wireless broadband access at $40/month or more. This is the kind of regulatory peril that many of us fear where the cure is far worse than the hypothetical dangers. George -----Original Message----- From: nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org] On Behalf Of Lauren Weinstein Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 2:59 PM To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org Subject: [ NNSquad ] Cloud Computing is going to make Broadband and Neutrality even more important for the Internet ----- Forwarded message from David Farber <dave@farber.net> ----- Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 17:50:01 -0400 From: David Farber <dave@farber.net> Subject: [IP] Cloud Computing is going to make Broadband and Neutrality even more important for the Internet Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@v2.listbox.com> Begin forwarded message: From: "Amy Wohl" <amy@wohl.com> Date: September 3, 2009 4:27:52 PM EDT To: <dave@farber.net> Subject: Cloud Computing is going to make Broadband and Neutrality even more important for the Internet Dear Dave, I can't contribute to the technical discussion of requirements for the Internet but I would like to introduce a notion of changing function into the discussion - which I believe makes adequate broadband standards and net neutrality even more important. We are in the midst of a revolution in architecture. At some point in the near future - five or ten years from now - we are going to find that a very large portion of computing usage - perhaps as high as 30 to 50% - moving from desktops, servers, and large computers at user organizations to shared farms of servers and larger computers "in the cloud." This is going to make the usage volume of the Internet increase remarkably and because we cannot predict exactly what users (consumers) and user organizations (businesses) will choose to do, network neutrality, permitting them to do nearly anything, becomes much more important. This is not an argument to change the net to provide for specific applications (which we can't predict anyway), but rather to preserve the ability to continue to use the net for whatever new applications we might imagine, in an environment with sufficient bandwidth to make that both possible and reasonable. Amy Wohl Amy D. Wohl Editor, Amy Wohl's Opinions 40 Old Lancaster Road, #608 Merion, Station, PA 19066 610-667-4842 amy@wohl.com www.wohl.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com ----- End forwarded message -----