Network Neutrality? Welcome To The Stupid Internet

Is it an alien invasion? A convergence of planets or some other astral phenomenon? No, it's a convergence of a different sort. Turns out that tonight is also the night of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, as well as the night Coldplay releases its latest song online. And YouTube has just released embarrassing video of a major Hollywood star having a ``wardrobe malfunction.'' Extremely high demand on the Internet is overwhelming available bandwidth, and regulations passed back in 2006 make it illegal for network operators to differentiate and prioritize content. Welcome to the world of network neutrality, where all content is treated exactly the same; where telecom and cable companies are legally prohibited from giving certain types of content priority handling. A world where somebody decided that a stupid network is better than a smart network. Well, how well did that work out? As more and more of our lives migrate to the Internet, if we want our TV viewing, phone conversations and other applications to be at least as reliable as they are now, it is critical that networks be allowed to become smarter -- to partition bandwidth and prioritize packets to make sure that different types of content get appropriate handling. The equivalent of HOV lanes (which give priority during heavy traffic) and FedEx delivery (which allows people to pay more for faster and more reliable service) must be permitted on the Internet for it to become what we all want it to be. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/14781013.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

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