What is this Net Neutrality thing?

Net Neutrality is a term I’ve heard bandied about for the past few years.  Quite frankly, I really have not paid a whole lot of attention to it because it didn’t strike me as particularly relevant to the day-to-day workings of my little world.

It is the principle that all data traveling along an Internet connection should be treated equally. The practice of net neutrality would prevent network operators, namely Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) from giving preferential treatment to some content while slowing down or blocking other traffic. Historically, ISP’s have mostly been responsible for policing themselves on the matter without a whole lot of government intervention because the “rules” have not been codified into law.

Proponents of net neutrality argue that actual net neutrality regulations are necessary in order to prevent ISP’s from blocking or limiting the publics’ access to all of the on-line services, information, and technology that is currently available on the net. Anything less, it is argued, amounts to a violation of our free speech.

Detractors of net neutrality claim that ISP’s are entitled to control their networks as they see fit.  Without some modicum of control, portions of their customers are negatively impacted by a different segment of users who are utilizing greater bandwidth for some of their Internet activities.

As with most things these days, the topic has become a hot-button political issue, with camps on both sides of the isle. Pro net-neutrality advocates believe that government controls are necessary, while the anti net neutrality folks posit that the free market will drive fair play and the government needs to stay out of the way.

Having delved a little deeper now, I have mixed feelings about the whole issue. Having spent a lot of time studying the law for the last four years, I see a whole bunch of Constitutional issues coming into question. I just printed out my own copy of Comcast Corp. v.  Federal Communications Commission, which was decided in Federal Court last April. I plan to take a good look at it before deciding where I stand on the issue. 

Do you know where you stand yet?