Please take a moment to watch this Pro-COPE cartoon. Basically, the argument is that by differentiating the content there will be more stability to that content: lanes for ‘extra traffic’ VOIP, high definition video, etc. According to the cartoon, it creates a ’smart network.’ Let us count the ways this isn’t right:
1. The cartoon says that net neutrality people will cause stifle creativity with ‘one dumb pipe’: the show doesn’t mention this but the internet has always been ‘one dumb pipe.’ That’s really the point! Creating lanes for certain type of traffic is another inhibiting factor for creation. Say there are lanes for bittorrent, P2P but an innovator develops a system far better than these current options. Likely the bandwidth needed for such an application would be enormous if it caught on with even a fraction of the internet using public and would end up using the bandwidth in the catch-all pipe. Basically, the telecommunication companies’ ’smart networks’ aren’t as smart as the users.
2. If there are lanes for specific types of traffic, they are also subjected to differentiated pricing. Once fiber optic cables are in place, we will have the infrastructure for high definition video; once most households are capable of using this technology, imagine if it was in a different ‘lane’ than the one in which you check your email and read DailyKos. Supply and demand kicks in and we have a product that will be much more expensive. High definition video, VOIP, other technologies that we haven’t even thought of will be the equivalent of an HBO package on cable reducing accessibility and mitigating innovation.
For more in depth information about net neutrality and COPE check out Save the Internet.
