WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2007
Justice Department Nixes Net Neutrality
Government Says ISPs Should Be Allowed To Charge A Fee For Priority Web Traffic
-
(iStockphoto)
-
Interactive Internet Fraud Figures from the FBI on various forms of Web deceit.
The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it is opposed to "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web user.
Several phone and cable companies, such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp., have previously said they want the option to charge some users more money for loading certain content or Web sites faster than others.
The Justice Department said imposing a Net neutrality regulation could hamper development of the Internet and prevent service providers from upgrading or expanding their networks. It could also shift the "entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers," the agency said in its filing.
Such a result could diminish or delay network expansion and improvement, it added.
The agency said providing different levels of service is common, efficient and could satisfy consumers. As an example, it cited that the U.S. Postal Service charges customers different guarantees and speeds for package delivery, ranging from bulk mail to overnight delivery.
"Whether or not the same type of differentiated products and services will develop on the Internet should be determined by market forces, not regulatory intervention," the agency said in its filing.
The agency's stance comes more than two months after Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras cautioned policy makers to enact Net neutrality regulation.
Such a regulation could prevent rather than promote Internet investment and innovation and have "significant negative effects for the economy and consumers," the Justice Department said in the filing.
Supporters of Internet regulation have said that phone and cable companies could discriminate against certain Web site and services. However, the agency said it will continue to monitor and enforce any anticompetitive conduct to ensure a competitive broadband marketplace.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More From SciTech
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 24 CommentsBThrasher, net neutrality is not about creating one level of service for customers; the idea is that without regulation to protect net neutrality, broadband providers will charge an extra fee (on top of any connectivity charges) to website owners.
I''m not surprised that you''re confused, though: the way the Justice department makes the analogy between these levels of service and the USPS is not only confusing but intellectually dishonest.
BThrasher, net neutrality is not about creating one level of service for customers; the idea is that without regulation to protect net neutrality, broadband providers will charge an extra fee (on top of any connectivity charges) to website owners.
I''m not surprised that you''re confused, though: the way the Justice department makes the analogy between these levels of service and the USPS is not only confusing but intellectually dishonest.
BThrasher, net neutrality is not about creating one level of service for customers; the idea is that without regulation to protect net neutrality, broadband providers will charge an extra fee (on top of any connectivity charges) to website owners.
I''m not surprised that you''re confused, though: the way the Justice department makes the analogy between these levels of service and the USPS is not only confusing but intellectually dishonest.
BROADBAND IS FASTER.
MOST BUSINESSES ARE ON A NETWORK AND THAT CAN BE DIAL UP AS MOST ARE.
THE MORE COMPUTERS ON A NETWORK THE SLOWER THEY ARE.
Posted by ke6960
No, they KNOW they can lie, and that many will believe it, while the majority who don''t can''t do anything about it anyway.
Boycotts anyone?
- President John F. Kennedy, January 29, 1961
It is time to get the lead out.
take me to your $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
America will be like a communist dictatorship in no time.
The agency said providing different levels of service is common, efficient and could satisfy consumers"
are they on drugs???
seriously, the only thing i can think to compare it to is the cable companies with there channel lineups and no one thinks thats a good idea.....
what is wrong with people these days (especially people in large corporations and the government) do they really think people are stupid and they can just lie to everyone with a straight face and we''ll believe it???
I don''t think they are going to get away with this scam; they must be pretty out of touch to even attempt it.
FREEDOM IS DEAD - BOTH IN THE REAL WORLD AND THE VIRTUAL WORLD.
We are a bunch of CHUMPS tp let the media take over the internet...
Not surprising coming from the Bush Administration. They have exerted every effort to empower corporate rights at the expense of the rights and liberties of private citizens.
There exists a fundamentally false and extremely ugly view current in this modern american culture that ignoring the citizenry is politically safe and that the body politic is best served by promoting the interests of private corporations rather than weighing the conflicting interests of the citizens.
What most "conservatives" fail to grasp is that this argument was well-understood by the founding fathers and they repudiated it as being indicative of a fundamentally sick society in which the rights of individuals could not survive.
Not a good choice to hold up as an example.
Government - stay out of Internet business - it''s the only global equalizer left to the people of the world.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 24 Comments