NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: Richard Bennett on Comcast and Fairness (from IP)
At 10:41 PM 1/15/2008, Andy Richardson wrote:
>Supposedly, cable modems that exist today cannot do this. So if ISPs
>*cannot* do the right thing, what should they do?
>
>Wes Felter - <mailto:wesley@felter.org>wesley@felter.org - http://felter.org/wesley/
>
>
>They can go in several different directions:
>(1) upgrade their infrastructure to handle the traffic
>(2) lower prices to make up for lower network performance
>(3) lose customers until the problem basically fixes itself
>(4) establish tiers of access w/ easily understood caps, charging more for heavier access
>(5) implement a shady scheme of network shaping and undocumented caps until the market matures and rome burns, see option 3.
(2) will not happen, because the problem is not the performance of the
network but abuse of the network. However, there is another alternative
not mentioned here: Raise prices and/or charge by the bit/packet. If
the FCC banned P2P mitigation, this is what we would have to do.
There's also yet another thing that ISPs might do: willingly partner
with the RIAA and MPAA to go after illegal P2P. Not something we'd
want to do, but if we are backed into a corner and it is the only
way to keep our networks running economically we will do it.
--Brett Glass
[ Exactly how will you and the RIAA/MPAA accomplish this when most or all
P2P traffic becomes entirely encrypted, and perhaps embedded in continuous
encrypted proxy streams to make traffic analysis and picking out P2P
extremely difficult? Unlike in so many situations in this world, when it
comes to Internet technology ordinary users do have the means to fight
back against what they view as inappropriate ISP activities. ISPs can of
course go the other route you suggest and raise prices or end "unlimited"
service packages at affordable rates, but there will be competitive
implications to doing this as well.
-- Lauren Weinstein
NNSquad Moderator ]