24 November 2007

Network neutrality

I’ve been a bit ambivalent about network neutrality. I already hate the fact that my ISP makes it difficult for me to connect to mail servers. (Blocking outbound connections to TCP port 25.) (I could—perhaps—get the block removed if I bothered to ask, but I hate that I even have to do that.) I feel, however, that an entity—company or individual—should have the freedom to do whatever they want to with a network that they paid for. The thing that should make network neutrality a non-issue is the fact that I pay my ISP for the use of their network. If I don’t like the service they provide, I can take my money elsewhere. I have, however, witnessed enough failures of market self-correction to be suspicious of such solutions. Edit: Plus, there’s the fact that I’m working for a company whose products can be used to implement...whatever the opposite of network neutrality is. Network bias?

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