Getting your broadband provider to support the NYCwireless Network
Neutrality Broadband Challenge is becoming more important with each
passing day. If your a independent broadband provider that wants to
allow customers unfettered access to the content of their choosing
please visit our challenge homepage right away.
http://www.nycwireless.net/tiki-index.php?page=BroadbandChallenge
My provider is Speakeasy.net... hello anyone listening at Speakeasy?
So far only our friends Bway.net have responded. Keep an eye on the
result on our scorecard page:
http://www.nycwireless.net/tiki-index.php?page=BroadbandChallengeScoreCard.
- Dustin -
Dana Spiegel wrote:
Posted on: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info/2006/01/17/bellsouth-
wants-new-net-fees-2/
According to an article on MarketWatch (http://www.marketwatch.com/
news/story.asp?guid=%7B02432D2D-1EE0-4037-A15F-54B748D6CF26%7D):
BellSouth Corp. confirmed Monday that it is pursuing discussions
with
Internet content companies to levy charges to reliably and speedily
deliver their content and services.
Bill Smith, chief technology officer at BellSouth, justified content
charging companies by saying they are using the telco’s network
without paying for it.
"Higher usage for broadband services drives more costs that we have
to recover," he said in a telephone interview.
He suggested that Apple Computer might be asked to pay a nickel or a
dime to insure the complete and rapid transmission of a song via the
Internet, which is being used for more and more content-intensive
purposes. He cited Yahoo Inc.’s plans to stream reality TV shows
as an
example.
"It’s the shipping business of the digital age," Smith said, arguing
that consumers should welcome the pay-for-delivery concept.
So, let me get this straight. Right now, I buy my internet service
from an ISP, and while that ISP doesn’t guarantee that I will be able
to access every single site, they do ensure that I am able to get
onto the internet completely, and that any generally available web
page will be available to me. This is the definition of how the
internet works. This also means that if Apple’s iTunes online store
is online and generally accessible, it will be accessible to me just
like anyone else on the internet.
Now, Bill Smith and BellSouth are saying that, maybe, if I use
BellSouth as my ISP, I won’t be able to get at any generally
available internet site that hasn’t paid them to access their network—
a network for which I’m already paying a monthly fee. They are saying
that, just because I’ve paid them $50 or $100 for internet access,
that this fee doesn’t give me access to the internet in general? They
are saying that, once I’ve paid them to access their “pipes”, that I
should have no expectation to be able to get to any website that I
want, or get service from a third party at best-effort broadband speeds?
Normally, such a statement is just hot air, since BellSouth just
provides the last mile. But they are the provider of most internet
connections in the southeast. And Verizon and AT&T (SBC) have been
saying the same thing, and they actually control the pipes that make
up the infrastructure of the internet.
So, if Apple doesn’t play along, does that mean that Verizon and AT&T
will start refusing to carry their traffic on the internet’s
backbone, thereby affecting many more people than just Verizon and
AT&T customers?
Seems like this is a great time for the FTC (not even the FCC) to
step in. If this were any other industry, this would be considered
extortion and racketeering, both very serious crimes in our country.
Dana Spiegel
Executive Director
NYCwireless
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.NYCwireless.net
+1 917 402 0422
Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info
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