bck136

Comcast and BitTorrent Become "Net-Neutral" Friends

The skeptic in me can't let go of the possibility that this is just for show. Net neutrality ever goes away, and they're right back to throttling at their own discretion. Along side all the other ISPs, who'd love the abiltiy to determine what can and can't pass through their lines.

Chamberpost:

Hate to call someone out like this, but I think your view of net neutrality is tragically short-sighted. Comcast is simply backing down to pressure here, pressure which came in large part from existing net neutrality legislation.

Also, it seems like you don't fully understand the intent of net neutrality. Existing net neutrality laws only state that all information sent over the Internet be treated equal - all packets of data must be transferred through our (I say "our" because the tax payers paid for it - Google 200 billion dollar "broadband scandal") network infrastructure without being subject to the scrutiny of anyone between us and the information we intend to receive. It effectively represents the Internet's First Amendment...

Make no mistake, an Internet without neutrality is good for Comcast, all other ISPs, and no one else. The vast majority of the growth we've seen on the Internet has come from the fact that it is its own encapsulated free market. Anyone can start a business online from anywhere, using a third party hosting provider, and have a chance at global success. Current neutrality laws make the Internet a construct of the people who use it. Repealing those laws would hand the companies who sell us access the right to also determine how we can use it, and this simple fact is far worse for the growth of technology and the advancement of e commerce than a law which prevents the telecom industry from acting like the telecom industry...

A lack of net neutrality threatens the freedom of the Internet, and all that talk about how it inhibits innovation is telecom propaganda. Compare the lists of companies standing behind each side:

Over at handsoff.org (a phony grassroots site funded by AT&T, IIRC), you have a long list of telecoms, some no-name companies, and "The American Conservative Union."

While over at savetheinternet.com, you have Ivy League professors, the founder of craigslist.com, Google, the ACLU, the Electronic Retailing Association, a handful of educators, a myriad of private technology advocacy groups (professionally and as hobbyists), and Tim Berners Lee, one of the people who helped found the Internet as we know it.

The simple fact is that the Internet belongs to the people who use it, and net neutrality keeps telecom greed from getting in between that. "New Media" pages like myspace or facebook, worth billions to themselves, would not have been possible without net neutrality.