So Gizmodo has a picture about the “Worst Case Scenario” if we don’t have net neutrality. The picture shows a tiered pricing plan we are all familiar with from cable and satellite companies. Here’s the issue and this is the argument made by pro-net neutrality advocates that tiering would occur on the web site level. So for example AT&T would offer faster access to some sites versus others in exchange for a premium being paid. This could happen however I think it’s much more likely the companies will do what they are trying to do now which is slow down or limit those who use “excessive” network resources. The old pricing model these companies are using of “unlimited” use for a fixed price is no longer profitable. Instead they are trying to make the model work by ditching or limiting users that skew costs such as those that use large amounts of network resources. In my opinion we are more likely to see models that would vary based on caps or bandwidth limits. Neither are very desirable.
The issue I find frustrating is everyone thinks we can fix this by creating new regulations. The reality is increased regulation will not increase competition and it will not lower costs. What I do think it will do is lower quality of service and increase prices. What we need is more competition and to remove the regulatory support the government gives to these companies. These companies thrive in regulatory climates. They feign resistance to it but know they gain power every time the government reinforces their positions and drives up the cost of market entry. Thus reducing competition further.
One last rant. Not all packets are created equal. A voip packet needs a higher quality of service than say a bit-torrent packet. After all if my bit-torrent download takes a few minutes longer to download that’s fine but if I have a slow or small bandwidth connection for my voip call I will have a crappy or unusable phone call. The reality is we need to allow these companies to treat protocols differently and applications differently. If they kill competing services to favor their own that’s wrong and we have anti-competitive laws to address this. If the laws we have don’t apply make new ones. But, don’t say all packets are to be created equally.
