Internet Neutrality Issue Heats Up in DC and Wireless Carriers and ISP's Don't Like It

I have written about internet neutrality and spoke about it in Washington DC in 2006 at the Chamber of Commerce for Business Annual Summit in 2006. It was a big issue back then -- and I got into a heated debate with a lobbyist from Verizon when I mentioned that the wireless carriers cannot be allowed to be gatekeepers of information flow.  He did not like that phrase, "gatekeepers", but that is what they are and it is still a major issue for all of us, who use the internet to access information freely -- and have come to expect it.

Internet neutrality remains an important issue today for online merchants because, "feasibly", without internet neutrality laws in place, wireless and cable carriers could favor one merchant's data getting to consumers before others, ergo those who pay more!  Wireless carriers and cable companies battle to keep control of the argument and say they won't do this, but when precendence is set, it is set.  So we all better be concerned about this and keep an eye on what Congress is doing to resolve issues as they relate to internet neutrality, or as many call it, net neutrality.

And for those who think that this is not a HUGE issue, as it relates to protection of the freedom of flow of information, check out Andree Toonk's article about wireless and cable carriers in Canada experimenting with "tagging" web pages and information before letting the public have access to them. It is scary where all of this could lead.  <<<CLICK HERE>>> for that article.

I would like to share new information with all eTaildTail readers in regard to new legislation proposed by Democrats to protect the freedom of flow of information, as reported by eTaildTail friends over at Online Media Daily and Wendy Davis.

-- Chip Arndt

New Net Neutrality Bill Prohibits Blocking, Degrading

by Wendy Davis -- May 9, 2008

"Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced a net neutrality bill Wednesday that would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or degrading access to any "lawful content."

"It shall be unlawful for any broadband network provider ... to block, to impair, to discriminate against, or to interfere with the ability of any person to use a broadband network service," states the proposed measure, The Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (H.R. 5994).

The bill would allow ISPs to manage traffic, provided they don't discriminate between their own content and content by...

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article by Wendy Davis at Online Media Daily after the jump."