NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Additional or differentiated services
RB
The most extreme form of Net Neutrality <http://www.digitalsociety.org/2010/08/the-three-extreme-forms-of-net-neutrality/> advocates taking private property used for delivering non-Internet services and mandating that it be used for Internet capacity. I know Bob would love to see this and he has no respect for private property which he like others mistakenly believes is public property <http://www.digitalsociety.org/2010/08/techdirt-mistakens-broadband-for-public-property/>, but it has no legal foundation.
The Verizon-Google compromise sort of defends the right to enhanced or prioritized services so long as they’re not called “Internet”. That upsets the people that want to mandate equal service regardless of payment even though the Internet has always been equal service for equal payment.
George Ou
*From:* nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+george_ou=lanarchitect.net@nnsquad.org] *On Behalf Of *Bob Frankston
*Sent:* Friday, August 27, 2010 9:09 AM
*To:* 'Ellrod, Rick E.'; nnsquad@nnsquad.org
*Subject:* [ NNSquad ] Re: Additional or differentiated services
Yes.
What more can I say – it protects the current business model against the danger of being undercut by their most feared competition – users with lots of bits.
We see a form of this in today’s story about NECN “NECN HD a tough sell for Comcast <http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2010/08/27/comcast_rivals_slow_to_pick_up_necn_hd/>” Why not just make NECN, which is advertising sponsored, available over the top.
Charter spokesman Tom Cohan said: “As Charter deploys new technologies that allows us to use our bandwidth more effectively, we are adding HD channels. NECN is certainly one of a number of channels that is under consideration for future carriage in HD
At least FiOS says they plan to add it but we’re talking about a signal that is broadcast from my city not that far from my house. Yet I can’t get over the abundant local capacity all around me with 3+ broadbands [sic]. I have to wait for FiOS to add it. You can argue whatever business model reasons you want but in the end I don’t get to choose what I can watch. I have to accept what Verizon decides is in their interest. They don’t want to risk a real marketplace where they don’t have control.
If this weren’t bad enough I have to call FiOS support to find out why the signal on 690 (Comedy Central HD) is coming in so badly. I’ve got an IP connection with my VoD coming over IP over my Ethernet to my STB. Why is Verizon setting aside the bulk of their fiber the cable in my house that they poached from Comcast (who really owns the RG-6 Comcast installed?) for an analog signal when they could do it far better over IP? That’s not the only problem with FiOS insistence on pretending it’s 1950; even over IP they use brittle protocols that live by and thus die by QoS.
So, yes yes yes. It’s all about maintaining a business model even as the technology as left it behind.
*From:* nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com@nnsquad.org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com@nnsquad.org] *On Behalf Of *Ellrod, Rick E.
*Sent:* Friday, August 27, 2010 09:33
*To:* nnsquad@nnsquad.org
*Subject:* [ NNSquad ] Additional or differentiated services
I wonder whether Verizon's principal purpose in introducing this qualification might be to protect the current model (used, for example, in FiOS) under which cable service and Internet access are two distinct services, with traditional multichannel video delivery not subject to the kinds of conditions net neutrality would require for Internet traffic.
Some commenters have seemed to assume net neutrality would automatically mean that the traditional cable product would have to be subsumed under Internet access, so that "over-the-top" Internet video could compete on a head-to-head basis with cable operator-delivered multichannel video. The exception in the Verizon-Google proposal might be designed to prevent such arguments, not for some hypothetical future service, but for current cable service.
Rick Ellrod
-----Original Message----- From: Lauren Weinstein [mailto:lauren@vortex.com] Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 4:40 PM To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org <mailto:nnsquad@nnsquad.org> Subject: [ NNSquad ] Google, Verizon, and Getting Real
Google, Verizon, and Getting Real
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000749.html
Greetings. Reactions to the "Verizon-Google Legislative Framework Proposal" ( http://bit.ly/9EEEy7 [Lauren's Blog] ) have been splattering around the globe ever since the two firms announced the plan earlier this month ( http://bit.ly/cpO0bU [Google Public Policy Blog] ).
. . .
Nor is it clear what sorts of services would qualify for the "additional or differentiated services" offerings (that is, not part of the public Internet per se) proposed by the framework plan.
Verizon's CEO, during the conference call announcing the proposal, specifically mentioned "entertainment services" and 3D television -- but these seem among the more problematic examples -- especially given the rapid advances in video encoding technologies (including related to 3D).
. . .
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com <mailto:lauren@vortex.com>)
http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance):
http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz
-- Richard Bennett Senior Research Fellow Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Washington, DC