“ISPs have defended their right to operate a two-speed internet, at a key debate into the future of the web,” Jane Wakefield reports for BBC News.
“Net neutrality – the principle that all net traffic should be treated equally – has been challenged in recent years as ISPs look to make a return on their increasingly expensive networks,” The Beeb reports. “They argue that if content providers want to pay to get their traffic prioritised on the network, then they should be allowed to do so. But some content owners and digital activists such as Open Rights Group argue that such a policy would do long-term damage to the internet, which was always conceived as a platform for everyone – not just those with deep pockets.”
“A spokesman for ISPA, the body that represents UK internet service providers told the BBC that ISPs ‘should be free to manage their networks as they see fit,'” The Beeb reports. “He added that it would make no sense to throttle popular services such as the iPlayer. ‘That is just going to annoy your customers and they will leave,’ he said. The code of practice drawn up by the BSG this week is aimed at making it easier for consumers to see how traffic is managed on different networks.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As always, we back net neutrality; it’s the various “Net Neutrality” proposals (and their unintended/paid for/intended effects) that worry us.
If people spent half as much time fixing things that need to be fixed as they do fixing what isn’t broken, we’d live in Utopia.