Unfortunately I think the telecom world will ultimately feel the wrath of additional FCC regulation and Congressional oversight in the near future.
And this will create a lose-lose situation for just about everyone. Cui bono?
In fact, the only people that will benefit through ”net neutrality” types of policies are politicians, regulators, and content providers.
Consumers and innovators will be left out to dry because they will have fewer choices and clogged pipes. Well, not really clogged, just less intelligent bandwidth allocation tools at their disposal (i.e., when bit discrimination is outlawed, only outlaws will discriminate bits. Note: discrimination is a good thing for consumers, you pay for what you want to use [MPLS, QoS]).
Despite the fact that these provisions were shot down last year, this not so bueno outlook comes at a time when so many influential geeks have banded together to promote the nationalization of the plumbing.
The latest example comes from a recent sensationalistic report over at GigaOM, written by a Paul Kapustka.
While I have touched on how this issue is really a battle over private property and contracts (e.g., peering agreements), Kapustka insinuates that essentially anyone against “net neutrality” policies is a paid shill of the telecom industry.
A brief disclaimer: I am on a permanent $1 million dollar retainer to companies such as AT&T and MCI… so take my meanderings with a grain of salt.
Be sure to check out Richard Bennet’s comments in that GigaOM link as well as his own blog post on the topic.
See also:
The Spectrum Should Be Private Property
What To Think About Reregulation?