One of our own, a Brit – John Oliver, makes the case very persuasively on Late Night Tv in the States – if a bit foul-mouthed and OTT in places – so this balances up the Cisco video I shared with you in the blog post. They would of course want a fast lane, so that they can make more money from the communications companies by selling more kit. Then of course the big players (Amazon, Netflix) want Net Neutrality for a completely different set of commercial reasons – reducing their costs. So where business is involved, the argument is skewed by whatever camp you are in – communications company (network equipment or ISP), or information provider. However the balance of the argument goes in favour of Net Neutrality because a) this is a form of control that is not for the benefit of the consumer – it takes the pressure off the cable companies to improve their overall level of service, b) the consumer hasn’t asked for it – the market is rigged against us in any case in terms of the level of service provided by our ISPs, and c) this was the way the Internet was designed, by a Brit and by academics, and this is the way it should stay.
I can come off the fence now and unequivocably support Net Neutrality.
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