Open Access, Closed Debate, By Roy Mark, Commentary, Internet News, December 30, 2005.

Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy calls
it “walled gardens.” Now we call it a debate over “open access” vs “net neutrality.” With recent FCC decisions, “Network operators have the right to manipulate traffic with the goal of steering consumers to certain Web sites over others” according to the advocacy group Public Knowledge. As the Center for Digital Democracy says, “An Internet without open access requirements would hardly resemble the Internet as we know it today. Without such requirements, the power to discriminate would be given to those who control the conduit–the few gigantic service providers that will remain.”

As Congress begins to contemplate this, Mark says:

Let’s see, Congress favoring the Verizons and Comcasts of the world over consumer interests? Gee, what are the odds?

Related posts:

1. SPARC Open Access Brochure
2. Public airwaves? Public Broadband access? Nah… Congress set to auction off valuable public resource.
3. New open access govt information journal
4. Hotspots for democracy
5. Toward Equality of Access