“The Wall Street Journal” yesterday announced about U.S. government’s plans to suggest new rules for internet service providers (ISP) to treat all web traffic equally. These rules are based on limited consumers’ freedom using their computers and cellphones by ISPs, when watching videos, listening to music or participating  in other legal services that require bandwidth. There are Google, Youtube and other internet companies on one side and on the other there are internet providers like AT&T or Comcast.

The thing is, that ISPs can freely manipulate with different internet services and limit their accessability for their clients. The services become slower and do not satisfy the users. According to Federal Communications Commission web traffic must be treated equally without blocking or slowing it from selected sources.

Wireless carriers are the main opponents of this regulation, because of wireless technology it is very sensitive for providing large amounts of data. On the other hand ISPs, companies that make Internet-phone services or video-conferencing software will have to invest a lot more in these services to ensure their quality. A hot dispute begins about the government’s right to regulate internet connections market. It seems, that republicans are against FCC’s idea of new net neutrality rules, arguing that it should step aside of fast-changing industry and let it develope itself.

Sure there is another side of the story. The context of nowadays’ net neutrality is widely open for corruption. For example, certain companies of internet services  may deal with certain ISPs to ensure better traffic for their data than for the data of other companies. It is funny to hear, that ISPs by their own will block sources, just because of their demand of bandwidth. The reasons must be heavier and related to profit rather that to a spontaneous acting.

But, first of all, we have to wait for the rules, which have to be approved in FFC’s meeting in october. The only  sure thing which we will have, it is a new cause for the new interpretation.

Personaly for me, the most significant thing in this story is, that nobody knows for sure what exact speed of traffic must be for different internet services. Does anyone have problems watching Youtube? A little bit slower or a little bit faster? Does it make any sense?

Read the full article of The Wall Street Journal – “U.S. as Traffic Cop in Web Fight”

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