Net Neutrality - What it means and why we should care

Network neutrality has been a big issue in the US for over a year now (thankfully, not so much in Canada at this point, although talks are starting to emerge). For those of you who aren't familiar with the vocabulary, Net Neutrality is essentially the idea that Internet should be free and have unrestricted access. This means Universal access to web content, protection of Web applications and freedom from censorship, all fall under the cover of Net Neutrality (from here on referred to as NN). What this means to us as gamers, is that instead of sharing the same bandwidth and internet speeds as all other users, we would have to fork out a much bigger sum every month to get good ping in our favorite MP games. Pros? You are pretty much guaranteed a great connection every time. Cons? You have to pay a lot more, and the gained speed doesnt add up to the new cost.

As the Internet service stands in Canada, there are no major regulations in terms of its use or availability. This means that providers are more or less free to choose to direct their Internet audience traffic in any way they like. Recently, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have been pushing the envelope by charging large internet-based businesses more for their increased traffic flow, or charging consumers more than previously for the same level of Internet service. ISPs have also been known to censor the content on the Net that they deemed to be objectionable.

The idea behind eliminating Net Neutrality is that ISPs would be able to create something called quality of service fees. These fees would allow people to have greater speeds and bandwidth allocation depending on their needs (such as good ping for games), while those with regular Internet needs would be stuck with the current prices, but their speeds will be reduced down to almost noticeable slowdowns. This would create a two-tier system of access to the Net which would be very profitable for ISPs.

Some ISPs (such as AT&T in the US) wish to become self-regulated so they can use their own discretion as to how to allocate bandwidth and what to charge their users for access. This would allow them to seamlessly eliminate unwanted content and charge higher fees without going through the government regulators or those hosting the major business websites.

Access and use of the Net has often been showcased as the center for freedom of speech. Some people, though, are concerned that the Net can be used as a tool for terrorism, identity theft, and other unhappy deeds. The argument is made that limiting bandwidth or blocking these undesirable websites would be a good thing for society as a whole.

As the law currently stands in Canada, ISPs have no legal obligation to not limit or block access to websites or information, and have been known to shape the Internet traffic flow in order to delay the flow of undesirable information or improving one's access to web resources. Such Internet traffic flow shaping has been referred to as packet shaping, and most recently was used to disrupt the operation of such P2P programs as BitTorrent.

The most recent example of NN violations occured in the US about a month ago, when sponsor/webcaster AT&T (sorry for picking on them, but they are pretty evil) decided to censor portions of the Pearl Jam song during their live performance over the web at the Lollapolooza concert.

After the band confronted the ISP, the company publicly apologized, saying "The editing of the Pearl Jam performance on Sunday night was a serious mistake made by a webcast vendor and completely contrary to our policies." A spokesman said, "We have policies in place with respect to editing excessive profanity, but AT&T does not edit or censor performances." The controversial part of the performance which was edited included some negative lines about George Bush during the performance of one of the band's songs. There has also been further unconfirmed reports about AT&T censoring anti-Bush speeches.

Up in the Great White North, The Canadian government has done frightfully little to prevent the events of US destroying NN from crossing the border. For example, when Vonage Canada complained the to the National Board of TV and Radio that Shaw was charging its customers the quality of service fee of VoIP phone service, the board ruled in favor of Vonage. However, days later the Federal Government overturned that ruling.

Despite the growing issue south of the border, the Canadian Government has taken no action to prevent the threat to NN. Government officials said that there is not enough information at this time about the threat to make any kind of decisions. So how much more proof does the government need to finally the issue before its too late?

So far in Canada, there has been only a handful of cases violating NN. While it may not be a huge issue now, in the world of Telecomm giants such as Telus (Canada) and AT&T (US) blocking Internet websites from home and business users because the company finds the website to be offensive or unsafe, certainly gives you the big picture at how fast and hard the issue is coming down on the general population.

If AT&T can charge quality of service fees and Telus can block websites without public complaints, one can only guess what is around the corner. While we are all concerned as gamers about having good pings and not paying too much, the big picture is the monopolization of the Telecomm giants and their increasing control over your actions on the net. Imagine that you have an AT&T phone plan, but your Internet is based with Comcast. What would you do if Comcast chose to block you from entering AT&T websites because it is their direct competition, even if you just wanted to pay your monthly bill?

The bottom line here is, If Net Neutrality is not defended, the Internet will become much like a Cable Company. You will have to pay for each channel you use - you will have to pay your ISP for each type of Internet access you want to have - whether its P2P compatibility, good ping, or just basic Internet - it would all cost you extra.

All hope is not yet lost though, as there are people out there fighting for our rights as Internet users. www.netneutrality.ca is an example of a website that wants to make a difference and defend our rights. The website also includes a petition that you can sign, which is meant to be sent to the Government of Canada in the near future.

If you are interested in this topic, be sure to read the corresponding Wikipedia Article.