The Future of Net Neutrality

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MusicallyInspired · #1 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:41 pm

Is anybody worried about the possibility of television-subscription-izing the internet? I see varied opinions about it. Some are dead worried and others don't see it as a big deal. Others don't believe it can happen. If it does happen I'm hoping it won't last for long. It would mean the end of the common person's webpage and would turn the internet into something for businesses or online shopping only.

Personally I believe the internet belongs to everyone and shouldn't be taken advantage of in this way.

Angelus3K · #2 Post by **Angelus3K** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:49 pm

I havnt read much about it but I know what it is.

I think if anything did happen to the internet as we know it, then hackers would start an underground internet or something.

The internet is the most free thing we have in the world, you can see why some goverments want to take that away.

MusicallyInspired · #3 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:08 am

Apparently ISPs have been wanting to do it for a long time now and everyone's saying that if someone started it everyone else would follow. Maybe then Google would start a free internet thing in keeping with it's "Don't be evil" slogan

.

KQartist · #4 Post by **KQartist** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:26 am

MusicallyInspired wrote:Is anybody worried about the possibility of television-subscription-izing the internet? I see varied opinions about it. Some are dead worried and others don't see it as a big deal. Others don't believe it can happen. If it does happen I'm hoping it won't last for long. It would mean the end of the common person's webpage and would turn the internet into something for businesses or online shopping only.

Personally I believe the internet belongs to everyone and shouldn't be taken advantage of in this way.

If they do start something like this, then everyone should agree on a date to disconnect with their service provider,(both cable tv and internet) until the internet goes back into the hands of the people, which it rightfully belongs. This could be done through a petition in protest of this agenda, or by forwarding emails in the hope that everyone will comply with the date set.

If these big companies providing service such as Comcast and Verizon find they might take huge profit losses due to rebellion from customers on a grand scale, they'd most likely drop it. Money is the bottom line for these people after all, and we're what they depend on to make it.

Gronagor · #5 Post by **Gronagor** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:56 am

That would be pathetic. The internet would become completely pointless. I hope Google and some of the other big companies fight against this. It would seriously damage their usage and advertisers will spend less money on internet advertising.

Whatever their reasons, this would be a serious step backwards in technological advancement.

(The post office and stationary shops won't complain. :P )

Blackthorne519 · #6 Post by **Blackthorne519** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:55 pm

Yeah, the idea of subscription based internet is awful. If it happens, like many have said, the underground internet would take over.

Bt

jpnuar1 · #7 Post by **jpnuar1** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:50 pm

For someone who doesn't follow any of this, could someone please explain to me what you mean by "subscription based internet"?

It sounds about like what I've got right now, my cable company gives me internet access in addition to TV for about an extra ten bucks a month...

MusicallyInspired · #8 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:46 pm

Basically ISP's are wanting to control what you surf on the internet similar to what channels you watch on TV. They want to only give you access to websites that pay them for access. Personal webpages would cease to be.

greensenshi · #9 Post by **greensenshi** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:13 pm

Now that I know what it is...

That has got to be one of the stupidest ideas a person or group of people could ever come up with. Any owner of a website would have to pay out of his own pocket, and it just wouldn't happen.

Broomie · #10 Post by **Broomie** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:43 pm

Sad, really. Very sad.

MusicallyInspired · #11 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:28 am

Is that picture genuine?? That's horrible. "Over 2000 websites included in this package so you can see it all!" Yeah right. 2000 websites is like 0.0001% of the entire internet.

Broomie · #12 Post by **Broomie** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:40 am

MusicallyInspired wrote:Is that picture genuine?? That's horrible. "Over 2000 websites included in this package so you can see it all!" Yeah right. 200 websites is like 0.0001% of the entire internet.

I very much doubt it's genuine. Just an example of what could be a slight possibility of the future if the bill is passed. Not sure if we'd get this in the UK after ISP's like Virgin Media and Tiscali frowned on the idea, although they are toughening up on pirating and illegal downloading.

MusicallyInspired · #13 Post by **MusicallyInspired** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:14 am

Oh? I recently read an article saying that the new CEO of Virgin said that net neutrality was "complete and utter bollocks" and said they were going for implementing the package system. Said they'd get a few select webpages at full speed and the rest of the internet would go in the "slow lane". Which is just as bad.

Angelus3K · #14 Post by **Angelus3K** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:24 pm

This has got to be the most scariest and craziest idea I've ever seen! I work for BT and luckily have not heard of plans to do this, they just throttle connections at peak times like most UK ISPs.

Music Head · #15 Post by **Music Head** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:36 am

Most mobile network operators offer these deals. Vodafone Australia for example has deals where rather then paying $1 per 5mins of browsing you can browse unlimitedly on certain sites for say $5 a month. I subscribe to the Windows Live website so I can use Windows Live Web Mssenger, Hotmail, WLSearch, WLSPaces, and other Windows Live services through my mobile cheaply.

I don't think it ever will happen. The idea seems utterly stupid to me and I can't think of a single reason why ISP's would want to limit the sites people can visit. It'll just drive people to different ISP's.