Comments on: Google’s MeasurementLab.net Now Makes Network Management Transparent—So Why Mandate Net Neutrality?

By: Directory Submission

Directory Submission — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:51:13 +0000

Transparency has always been crucial to the success of the Internet, and so the Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they're getting when they sign up for broadband. I, therefore, feel this is a good initiative from google to help the Internet user community.

By: Directory Submission

Directory Submission — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:51:13 +0000

By: Directory Submission

Directory Submission — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:51:13 +0000

By: drewclark

drewclark — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:20:08 +0000

I'm glad to see that this issue is finally gaining some traction in the broader world. BroadbandCensus.com has been using the Network Diagnostic Tool of Internet2 since January 2008 as a means of comparing actual internet speeds with those promised by carriers.

The speed tests of individual broadband users are all made publicly available on BroadbandCensus.com under a Creative Commons license.

The goal of the Broadband Census is to use transparency and public accountability to allow consumers to understand the speeds, prices, availability, reliability and competition in the local broadband marketplace. It sounds as though Google and the New America Foundation have a similar transparency-based motivation.

See my story about the launch at http://broadbandcensus.com/blog/?p=1301, or Take the Broadband Census at http://broadbandcensus.com/census/form

By: Gallipoli

Gallipoli — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:04:35 +0000

As long as ISPs have traffic nationwide traffic management policies, even those users in areas lacking meaningful broadband competition

By which you mean nearly every area in the United States.

will be protected from discriminatory network management practices by pressure in other markets.

What does this even mean? That people are going to move because the lone network provider in their area is abusing that market power? Or are they to bootstrap up their own ISP with all of the efficient network paths already dominated by the current monopoly?

By: quanticle

quanticle — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:59:56 +0000

It seems to me that the fundamental basis behind opponents of net neutrality legislation is that there is a free market for Internet access. I see very little evidence that such a market exists. For example, in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs, one has two choices for Internet access: Comcast cable, and Qwest DSL. Verizon is supposed to be rolling out FiOS “sometime soon”, but the rollout has already been pushed back twice. Comcast is rolling out DOCSIS 3.0, but at the prohibitively high cost of $150 per month. Given Comcast's shady reputation where net neutrality is concerned and that Qwest (still!) doesn't serve all of the suburbs, its really hard to argue that one has any meaningful “choice” when it comes to high-speed 'net access.

By: dm

dm — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:38:15 +0000

even those users in areas lacking meaningful broadband competition will be protected from discriminatory network management practices by pressure in other markets

I think the real world throws a few obstacles in the way of such perfect competition.

For one example, switching ISPs can be a fairly painful experience if, for example, it involves changing email addresses, too. Though I suppose Google may have fixed that problem with Gmail, as well. Further, some ISPs offer long-term contracts, much like cell-phone companies, so that changing ISPs is either delayed or accompanied by a financial penalty. And I'm not sanguine that ISPs wouldn't find a way to change their terms-of-use midway through such contracts (the language permitting such is probably already present in most use policies). Good heavens, some ISPs (e.g., Verizon) didn't even support Macintosh or Linux customers for years.

I'm actually on the fence as far as net neutrality is concerned --- I can see that there are reasonable arguments that the ability to charge for new services might encourage ISPs to install them.