Serendipity35

I would title this piece something about Net Neutrality but I think that is a phrase that gets confused looks or makes people turn away. You're thinking about not reading the rest of this post already.

Network neutrality (AKA net or Internet neutrality or NN) is a principle that in a personal way addresses your home connection to the Net. If you are on a broadband network for Internet access, and perhaps also for your telephone service, and television programming, then you should be concerned.

A neutral network would have no restrictions. It's safe to say that NO network is completely neutral now and that the principle is just that - a principle.

The big telecommunications companies want to provide you with all your services (Net, phone, TV, movies and the next thing) and also charging you for content from some providers. I don't mean paying your monthly fee for HBO. I'm talking about charging for access to things like certain websites or services. You're using up a lot of bandwidth to watch those online videos or download a movie from NetFlix or the iTunes store. And the telecoms want a cut. (Universities are concerned with bandwidth too. They are not neutral. They throttle down your uploads or downloads, block ports or sites etc.)

One of my neighbors just added Optimum Online Boost to his broadband service (and $9.95 a month to his bill). Their site tells you, "Downloading music, uploading photos, emailing large attachments and online gaming will be better than ever with speeds up to 30 Mbps downstream and now 5 Mbps upstream." He was very excited - showed me a bunch of pages and how fast they loaded. He was disappointed when I said that I didn't look at it that he got more speed, but that he was getting the speed that all of us should be getting. In other words, they are throttling down MY service, not speeding up his access.

Neutrality proponents say that if these companies can impose their tiered service model to a greater degree, it will restrict users, "unflatten" the playing field, fragment the Internet, and stifle the growth of the Net.

The video embedded here is a very good look at all of this. It is the second draft (that immediately appeals to me - that someone is updating their video as if it was an essay) of a piece about where the World Wide Web came from and where it is going. Is that the same as where the Internet is going? Good question, Ken. Watch the video and tell me the answer.

I recommend that you look at the video.

* The video comes from foureyedmonsters.com. I'm a bit unclear about that site. It appears to be a site for the indie film Four Eyed Monsters, but this little film is part of their podcast series. (Someone correct me if I'm off on this - no "About Us" link on their home page.)