[Nolug] Pending Internet Legislation

Warning: this is a long message that contains politics. If you find
this a toxic topic please delete without reading.

This is a poor way to introduce myself in a first post to an e-mail
list I've only lurked on, but I'm truly curious if any of you have any
thoughts on the pending "net neutrality" proposals before Congress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality

My first thoughts on the matter were that regulations crafted by
legislators and lobbyists were unlikely to be of any benefit to the net
and net service users as a whole. But now I'm not so sure. An e-mail
to Senator Vitter brought this response:

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

Subject: Responding to your message
Date: Mon August 21 2006 3:51 pm
From: Senator_Vitter@vitter.senate.gov
To: let02do@earthlink.net

 <http://vitter.senate.gov/images/header_image.jpg>

Dear Mr. Toal,

               Thank you for contacting me about network neutrality. I
appreciate hearing your thoughts on this important issue.

               As you may know, net neutrality is a proposal to require
network service providers to provide the same access and speeds to all
traffic that travels over the Internet. The proposal would also
 prohibit network service providers from providing enhanced service to
 website owners who want to pay a premium price for an enhanced
 service. Advocates of net neutrality believe that this principle will
 ensure the Internet continues to work as it does now, as an open, free
 market, free speech platform. Opponents of net neutrality argue there
 is no need for a regulation for the problem of blocking or
 intentionally degrading certain internet traffic that has not yet
 happened and that the network owners have said under oath that they
 will not do. Also, opponents of net neutrality believe that strict
 regulation may hinder deployment of new services, such as video
 competition to cable monopolies, and may inhibit efforts to manage
 networks and stop viruses and other malicious activity on the
 Internet.

               I strongly support the consumer protections that are in
the Advanced Telecommunication and Opportunities Reform Act, the
comprehensive telecommunications bill passed by the U.S. Senate
 Commerce Committee, on which I serve. In that bill, there is a strict
 prohibition on blocking websites and other anticompetitive practices.
 The bill specifically prohibits any network service provider from
 blocking any lawful content of a subscriber's choosing , blocking any
 legal web pages , blocking any voice application , blocking any video
 application , blocking any email service , blocking any search engine
 , or blocking the connection of any legal device if the device does
 not harm the network. Also, service providers would be required to
 provide clear and conspicuous information, in plain language, about
 the estimated speeds, capabilities, limitations, and pricing of any
 Internet service offered to the public. I believe these provisions
 will help protect consumers without enacting over ly burdensome
 regulations that may have unintended consequences.

              Once again, thank you for contacting me on this
 important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,
 <http://vitter.senate.gov/images/vitter_signature.gif>

Senator David Vitter
United States Senator

P.S. Please visit my webiste to sign up for E-Updates
<http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=contact/eupdate> and receive regular
email updates from me on the issues important to Louisiana families.

-------------------------------------------------------

Any thoughts? Vitter's position cites objections but doesn't seem to
fully address them. I think precedence should be give to file transfer
over other data types (hey, my distro's Slackware, but I'd think
portage users might agree). I would shed no tears if porn bandwidth
were throttled by a provider. I also think it's reasonable to charge
website or a user for premium service. Who is it exactly that decides
what "legal" content is? But I'm still trying to figure it out, so I
was wondering what the nolug community thought.

Thanks,
Lawrence
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Received on 08/22/06