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Net neutrality -- the belief that all Internet traffic should be treated equally -- has been much in the news of late and, while I come down on the pro-neutrality side, I can also see the argument for the counter opinion. But in either case, what we as consumers really need is clarity.
The ISPs are arguing that some types of online activity -- downloading video files or streaming content, for example -- suck up a lot of bandwidth, and that the few who often do this are slowing down the online experience for the many. In fairness, they say, it is necessary to throttle back the bandwidth available to these users.
And if the ISPs can prove that to be true, then they may have a valid argument, but the problem is that we don't know its validity and their reluctance to openly discuss the issue -- or even, for weeks, to acknowledge its existence -- has created an air of secrecy and suspicion.
This has drawn the attention of the CRTC, which asked Bell a few weeks ago to substantiate its claims. It looks like the regulatory board is about to get a lot more involved in this.
And that's a good thing because it will bring the discussion out in the open. If it can be shown that a small percentage of bandwidth hogs are slowing the Web experience for the rest, then maybe traffic shaping has a place in our Internet. Or maybe not. But let's at least get the facts out there. Because while it's possible that new technology will make this problem go away, right now consumers need to know if they are paying for artificially slow broadband access.
Peter Wolchak
Posted July 2, 2008
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General
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