, Mar. 14, 2006 `Internet neutrality' in action SAN JOSE CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHTS SPIRIT OF INNOVATION THAT MUST BE PRESERVED
San Jose Mercury News Editorial Explaining the impact of government regulations on everyday people and businesses can be a challenge, especially in arcane areas such as telecommunications policy. That's why a conference about Internet telephones starting today in San Jose is an excellent opportunity to shine a spotlight on the brewing debate over something called ``Internet neutrality.'' Its outcome will shape the future of the Internet itself. At the VON Conference (it stands for ``Voice on the Net'') some 320 companies will showcase everything related to the burgeoning world of Internet telephone calls: services for consumers and businesses, new equipment and technologies combining Net phones and wireless Internet access. More than 8,000 people are expected to attend, and for good reason. Internet telephony is one of the most dynamic and exciting sectors of the tech industry today. Consumers and businesses are flocking to Net phones to slash their bills and take advantage of new services not available on traditional telephones. In the past year alone, the number of Internet telephone users has tripled to 4.5 million. In addition, 75 million people are using eBay's Skype, an Internet service that allows free, or virtually free, conversations around the globe. When Internet phones are fully integrated with wireless technologies, adoption will speed up even more. And increasingly, ``Video on the Net'' providers are using the same technology to deliver TV-quality images to any Internet device, anywhere and at any time. In short, the industry is a perfect showcase of the tremendous value that unfettered Internet innovation and entrepreneurship can deliver to consumers. Yet unless Congress turns the principles behind Internet neutrality into law -- as Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has proposed -- a large swath of the Internet phone industry could be squeezed out of existence. Other promising technologies could suffer the same fate, and the power of the Internet to foster innovation, economic growth and job creation could be forever damaged. Internet neutrality is the notion that Internet users should have unrestricted access to all content and services available on the Internet. Conversely, any application provider should have access to the Net and all of its users. Specifically, Net neutrality rules would prevent the cable and telephone companies, which largely control Internet access in America, from acting as gatekeepers and deciding what content and services their customers get to use. Telephone companies, in particular, seem to relish the notion of becoming Internet gatekeepers. They have threatened to impose new fees on the likes of Apple, eBay, Google, Yahoo and others to guarantee their customers can reach them. Sites that don't pay up could see connections with their users slowed down, or cut off altogether. This system could allow a telephone giant to shake down Internet phone services by threatening to disconnect those who won't pay prohibitive fees. Likewise, Internet video services could be at risk of being slowed to the point of being unusable by a cable company. Instead of Internet video spawning a new industry that delivers a limitless variety of TV-programming to users, it would evolve into an online version of the cable TV system. The access providers would pick and choose the shows users get to see, and those that don't make the cut would vanish. The Internet owes its success and economic value to the myriad innovators who create content and services on the promise they will be immediately available to a global audience. Allowing access providers to become gatekeepers to those innovations would kill that promise and zap the Internet of its very lifeblood. ---------------- Online extra Read more editorials on the importance of ``Internet neutrality'' at www.mercurynews.com/opinion ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
