AT&T Will Put Cash in your Pocket if you Help Kill Net Neutrality

[GoLeft TV]

From Ring of Fire:

Since the Supreme Court decision earlier this year regarding the FCC’s ability to regulate Verizon, debates over net neutrality have been ramping up. The latest blow to be delivered in the battle has come from AT&T and is a response to Netflix’s request for strong net neutrality rules.

What is Net Neutrality? In the simplest of terms, the concept of Net Neutrality is an agreement by ISPs and other internet intermediaries to treat all data equally. This is to say that the data of a funny cat picture will be given the same priority as the latest episode of Orange is the New Black as an email from your daughter.

AT&T announced in a filing with the FCC that if customers will let it charge companies like Netflix a premium for faster delivery of its content, it will lower the price its customers are paying on their bills.

You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.

[PoliticAverse]

1. The issue is more complicated than 'net neutrality' and concerns who will pay for excess bandwidth.

Under a pure 'net neutrality' model there is nothing that says an ISP must give Netflix the bandwidth it
needs.

[cprise]

8. Actually, the bandwidth agreements with customers play a role

The major ISPs already have data caps in place. All they have to do is use a rolling 2- or 4-week tally for the amount of data received by a customer, and slow down (all) traffic to that individual account which exceeds the cap they paid for. They could also keep delivery at the same speed, but add surcharges for each gigabyte extra that is downloaded.

AT&T's way of doing it requires in effect sponsorship from large corporations in order for certain content to get through to any customer quickly and reliably. The alternative is to have AT&T compete with other Internet providers based on the total amount of data they can deliver per dollar to customers, something they are loathe to do because a commodity pusher has no control over content.

[Doctor_J]

2. raise your hand if you think the war's over and the corporations won a complete victory

rec

[RKP5637]

3. K&R!!! I wonder how many really understand what is going on. I was talking to someone

recently and they were blaming their poor service all on Netflix, they had no concept of what Net Neutrality is about ...

[Doctor_J]

4. Almost none

really understand what's really going on. In that way it's pretty much like every other important issue in the US.

[RKP5637]

5. US, Land of the Clueless, n/t

[Doctor_J]

7. Wait until Comcast, which owns NBC, starts slowing down programming from the other

networks (Fox, ABC, CBS). That sounds bizarre but I think would be legal. Hilarity will ensue.

[Jefferson23]

6. Recommend..thanks.

[JoeyT]

9. Because everyone knows corporations always pass savings on to customers.

I'd love to believe people aren't stupid enough to buy it, but plenty will.