[pp.int.general] how do you feel about net neutrality?

[Rick Falkvinge (Piratpartiet)]

I believe that this guy hasn't read and understood World Of Ends, a very
short and straightforward essay about "what the internet is, and how to
stop mistaking it for something else".

Giving priority to one kind of traffic would damage the net as we know
it, possibly irreparably.

http://worldofends.com/


Valentin Villenave wrote:
> Greetings everybody,
>
> I've just stumbled upon this article, that raises a number of
> objections *against* the principle of Internet neutrality (i.e.
> non-filtered communications); I'd like to know how you guys feel about
> it.
>
> http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/swanson7.html
>
> Basically, his points are:
> - most of the Internet traffic nowadays are spams and P2P exchanges
>
> - filtering data is good to guarantee that real-time communications
> (VoIP, telemedicine, gaming etc) are given a low-latency priority over
> non-critical communications (e.g. BitTorrent)
>
> - non-filtered data is bad for capitalism and networks development,
> since the major infrastructures, backbones, optic fibers etc. will no
> longer interest compagnies and will instead be controlled by
> governments only
>
> - "The internet is not a public utility, nor should it be treated as such."
>
> This guy is (as far as I can tell) involved with the Republican Party
> (he reminds that Obama supports the principle of Net neutrality,
> whereas McCain does not).
>
> As a leftist myself, I strongly disagree with most of his points (the
> French left wing has a strong and historical commitment to the "public
> service" notion); however my question is:
>
>   - how do we, as a non-right-or-left party, deal with such issues?
>   - Shall we, for instance, support one of the two USA candidates on this?
>   - Does supporting the principle of net neutrality bring us closer to
> (e.g.) Obama than McCain?
>
> Just in case you have a minute to think about it... :-)
>
> Cheers,
> Valentin
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