Thanks!

Thousands of people heralded the FCC’s decision to punish Comcast for blocking Internet traffic last week, and for setting an important precedent for Net Neutrality. A small group of skeptical observers, however, are worried about the ruling’s unintended consequences.

These skeptics fear that Internet Service Providers, no longer allowed to manage their networks through blocking, will turn instead to a radical, industry-wide switch to “metering” — imposing steep fees for exceeding tight caps on bandwidth usage.

Hello even larger Internet bill, and goodbye to watching a movie online when it strikes your fancy.

This scaremongering has people worried that we’ve exchanged one corrupt practice for another. Luckily, as S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press points out in his new policy brief, this “be careful what you wish for” rhetoric is unfounded. Turns out, we don’t have to choose between secret and arbitrary blocking and the unreasonable practice of metering.

If you find yourself in a back alley — or message board — arguing about metering, here are a few arguments you can use to defend yourself:

• It is a false choice to suggest that since Internet service providers cannot arbitrarily block online content, they will be forced to meter. There are a whole host of other non-discriminatory options available to providers that are more effective at managing congestion.

• Talk of metering is not new and has nothing to do with the FCC’s laudable decision to prohibit providers from blocking applications. Time Warner floated plans to meter as early as 2002..

• Metering is the wrong solution for Internet users. History shows that consumers strongly prefer simple, flat-rate pricing to metering. They do not want to look over their shoulder and face surprise higher monthly bills. This is likely to encourage all subscribers – not just high-bandwidth users — to curb their Internet use.

• Metering is bad business for Internet service providers. Not only does it decrease Internet use, it discourages the development of and demand for new and innovative applications that give the Internet its value. ISPs that meter are likely to see a subscription drop that hurts their bottom line.

• There are strong financial incentives at play that actually make it very unlikely that ISPs will make the drastic switch to metering. Congestion should be treated as a short-term problem, while continued investments are made to keep pace with demand. Offering simplicity and abundance is the best outcome for users, providers and the future of the Internet.

Don’t listen to the Chicken Littles: The sky isn’t falling. For those of us who believe in a truly open Internet, the sun is starting to break through the clouds.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 11:31 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.