Net neutrality -- common carrier or TV channel?

This is crucial legislation for our country. Currently, the Internet operates like a telephone company in the sense that you write something or ask something or post something, and the Internet carries it without regard to its content, originator or domain. Like an interstate delivery truck--you put your goods on the truck, they get sent to the destination specified. The trucker doesn't look at what you are sending and decide where it should go. That is how the Internet which was built with my (and your) tax dollars is supposed to work. The airwaves are supposed to work like this, but failure to maintain them as "pipes" rather than content production streams has created an unbalanced system. The telcos and cable companies would like to be able to pick and choose messages and message senders, and decide which messages to expedite and which to hold back or slow down. Gee, would this be based on money? Would this mean advertisers and corporations would get their messages through but independent voices would become second class citizens? Well, do you believe computer scientists or politicians like Chicago's Bobby Rush, for example, who have taken huge payments from SBC and other telecom firms? For a good overview beyond this ZDNet story, go to this site.Net neutrality fight returns to Senate | Tech News on ZDNet: "Net neutrality, the idea that network operators should not be allowed to prioritize Internet content and services that travel across their pipes or to make deals with companies seeking special treatment."

tags technorati : netneutrality commoncarrier