US rules for internet access gain thumbs up from Vint Cerf
- 22 September, 2009 17:26
- Comments 2
Internet pioneer, Vint Cerf
Internet pioneer, Vint Cerf, has praised a proposal by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that outlines possible rules for the protection of consumer access to the internet.
In a post on Google’s Public Policy blog, Cerf said the rules will play a part in preserving ‘network neutrality’; ensuring users can have access to all Web sites without fear of censorship or discriminatory levels of access.
“To some it may seem like an esoteric issue, but this boils down to protecting the Internet as an engine for innovation, economic growth, social discourse and the free flow of ideas,” he wrote.
“Preserving non-discriminatory access also has the virtue of protecting consumer choice, ensuring that an internet access provider cannot block fair access to any application provider on the Internet.”
Cerf has been fairly vocal of late. He has also called for migrations to IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) to stave off an anticipated lack of available addresses on IPv4.
The Google blog post refers to a recent speech by FCC Chairman., Julius Genachowski, in which he proposed that the Commission adopt several principles as rules. Some of these include allowing users access to all legal sites and online applications, forbidding providers from discriminating between the sites they provide access to, and making providers transparent in how they manage networks.
Cerf says that providers should have the ability to deal with things like traffic congestion and security threats, but that they should only do so without “picking winners and losers.”
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Comments
Anonymous
As usual, Vint Cerf is right on top of the need to protect the Internet from the meddlers and the politically and commercially motivated.
Some corporates claim Australia is different to the US so we don't have to worry about Net Neutrality. Nothing could be further from the truth. We already have providers using financial muscle to force users to get content from them, and they want to go much further with discriminatory price and access policies. We also uniquely have Corporal Conroy and his Secret Rabbit-proof Firewall which has the potential for endless political mischief.
So Cerf's comments are even more applicable here, including the wake-up call about the need to push ahead with vital IPv6 migration.
Anonymous
I'll withhold final opinion until after the actual text of the NPRM is available, but generally speaking, I'm very concerned about this movement, on the basis that almost anything the government touches turns to [poop]. The less they have in ambiguous writing, the less control they have over us. If the government gets a foot in the door, how long before it's a leg? And how long before THEY begin "picking winners and losers"?
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