When Idiots Write for Major Newspapers
Jun 12th, 2006 by Brian A. Thomas
The Washington Post has posted an Editorial called The Internet’s Future, in which some un-named idiot at the Post decrees that Congress should stay away from burdening “the Internet with preemptive regulation.” They argue that supposedly the fear is that the Internet will become like Cable TV, where just select programming gets through, an argument I have never heard. The problem is, CEO’s of the backbone providers have already said that places like Google shouldn’t use their pipes for free. The problem is the providers are already planning on charging for faster access and slowing down those who refuse, or those of us who can’t, pay. They can’t charge more now as they are not allowed, but those rules stop at the end of summer.
At one point they argue that we need to allow the providers to charge Google and Amazon to recoup their investments in the network. Then later say that we shouldn’t enact legislation to stop such things until they do it, meaning they seem to still think we should stop them if they do that which they are planning on doing. So what is the problem with stopping them beforehand?
They say, “Ironically, a non-neutral net would accelerate the spread of zippy broadband that can deliver movies, allowing hobbyists with camcorders to take on Hollywood studios.” The problem is they ignore the fact that said hobbyist would need a Hollywood studio income to pay the providers to give them the space to feed their videos, meaning only Hollywood would have the resources to continue on.
