The long running battle over ‘net neutrality’ continues. Some key ideas The central idea are that network carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast would could not discriminate against users – and thus (for instance) limit the transmission of their own videos over those of others. Or punish competitors by transmitting their content at slower speeds.
To Julius Genachowski, the Internet is one of humanity’s great inventions. “I can’t imagine what life would be like without the Internet,” the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said in a Sept. 21 speech at the Brookings Institution. “It has unleashed the creative genius of countless entrepreneurs.” And, Genachowski is convinced, it can help solve problems in areas ranging from health care and education to energy. One of the keys to the Internet’s success, Genachowski argues, is that it is an open system, allowing anyone to use it and develop new applications. Now, he says, “few goals are more essential than preserving a robust and open Internet.” That’s why Genachowski proposed new net neutrality rules for the Internet in his Brookings speech. – From Business Week