Total Pageviews

Thursday, July 26, 2012

UK Net Neutrality - moving towards the right idea? Or away...

UK Net Neutrality - moving towards the right idea - Dean Bubley: "There's a bit of semantic wiggle-room here, with "blocked" not necessarily including "degraded", but I suspect Ofcom will come down like a ton of bricks on anyone following the letter and not the spirit of the thing, not to mention considerable PR and competitor opprobium). The stated ability to do traffic management to avoid serious congestion, block child-unsuitable material, avoid DDoS attacks etc also seems reasonable.
Supposedly, about 10 ISPs have signed up, but reportedly Vodafone hasn't because it thinks it's too restrictive about the term "Internet Access", and Virgin Media thinks its too laxly-worded and wants loopholes tightened up. In my view, Vodafone: you need to grit your teeth and sign. Internet is Internet is Internet. If you want to sell something else, I'm sure your marketing  department is smart enough to come up with another brand. I can even give you some advisory input if you get in touch. (How about "Internet-flavoured access"?)"
I wish I could agree with Dean's very sunny conclusion - but frankly, the lack of EE, Voda and Virgin makes this less useful than a chocolate teapot so far, despite many actors' good intentions and Ofcom's hard work trying to achieve consensus where none exists.
In truth, consumers need co-regulation here, not this soft procedure.
'via Blog this'

No comments: