Bader’s Bits

I promise that I won’t blog all the machinations of the various Congressional committees and subcommittees regarding Net Neutrality. There’s no guarantee that any proposal will actually make out of committee for a vote this session. But the battle lines are being drawn and the skirmishes are fast and furious.

Here’s a good article on the state of affairs from Consumer Affairs. The bottom line is the telcos are gaining momentum in burying the issue with “promises” everything will be OK. Frankly, I don’t trust them on this issue. We’ve got to get Net Neutrality legislated. Even that is no assurance, but it’s better than nothing.

Qwest CEO Dick Notebaert joined his telco CEO colleagues by advocating for tiered Intenet service as a way for his customers to differentiate their service over Qwest’s network, according to a report on News.com.

“Would this give some content providers an advantage over others?” Mr. Notebaert asked the crowd rhetorically. “Well, yeah. We’re all trying to provide a little bit of differentiation for a competitive edge. That’s what business is about.”

Unfortunately, the comparison neglects the notion that Qwest is expected to become more of a content provider itself, and therefore may be preparing to provide that advantage to itself, as we’ve seen other telcos do with their ISP businesses.

Jeff Pulver, CEO of Pulver.com and producer of the VON show at which Mr. Notebaert spoke, commented: “I think it’s probably true that companies are coming to Qwest willing to pay for better treatment on their network [as Mr. Notebaert remarked],” he said. “But I think they’re doing it out of fear. It’s legalized extortion.”