Americans Don’t Want Net Neutrality
From ArsTechnica: Poll: Americans don’t want net neutrality (or maybe they don’t know what it is)
A nationwide survey of 800 registered voters is being touted by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation because it purports to show that Americans are not interested in net neutrality legislation. Calling proposed net neutrality “onerous,” the Committee’s press materials say that the poll makes it clear that Americans prefer “video choice” over such regulations.
The poll also found that many Americans have no idea what net neutrality is, or why they should care . . .
Maybe we just need another term to describe the concept. (I find the term “network neutrality” confusing. Perhaps something more loaded like “egalitarian networks” or “anti-entertainment bandwidth throttling” or “need-blind allocation” or “usage-tiered pricing.” Or “lobster pricing.”)
In the survey, the question was posed as a battle between network neutrality–ISPs can’t sell faster (or slower) bandwidth on a scaled pricing scale–and increased TV and video choice. A non-neutral network could, for example, charge YouTube’s streaming video more for their bandwidth, and favor the ISPs cable network partner in allocating bandwidth to the TV set. It’s like paying more per pound for the larger lobster at the lobster pound.
It’ll be exciting to see more decisions being made in Congress by people who don’t even try to understand, like what happened with the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act.
Update: ValleyWag comments on this in a less-formal manner: Feature: Congress says “fuck you” to Net Neutrality with blatant pro-big-business push poll.