Here, I try to give a talking point regarding network neutrality--that it needs to be protected to help help the consumer class. I also attempt to give a brief, simple, and straightforward explanation of network neutrality that I think is largely lacking elsewhere on the internet. I feel like even the wikipedia article doesn't explain the concept in a way where a lay-reader can easily understand its importance or even what it really looks like at all. This paper is a completely new rewrite from the prior essay, taking into consideration your comments.
* Revised.
Network neutrality (as applied to the internet) is the idea that the best form of network management is one that does not exercise "abusive discrimination." By that, I mean discrimination of content or parties that (a) exercises control to shift the balance of the internet toward particular parties, and (b) is specifically intended to extract profits (rather than to enhance the system and its efficacy). Since the concept of network neutrality in fact focuses on the line between abusive and nonabusive discrimination, the term "neutrality" can be misleading (i.e. neither side of that line is neutral in a pure sense). While there might be some that even go as far to say that no discrimination--even that which is beneficial to all parties--should be allowed, my view is that only discrimination of an abusive nature should be curtailed.
Perhaps a simpler way to explain it is to give a couple of examples:
Given that other websites such as Wikipedia already describe many of the arguments, I will focus this paper on my own. Mainly, that allowing abusive discrimination in network management has the potential to reduce if not erase the internet's role as an equalizing force.
The internet has tended to be much more empowering for consumers than any other force, and has been able to do so due to the relatively low level of abusive discrimination thus far.
For instance, when purchasing goods, the average consumer no longer has to rely on the word and prices of the closest store. They can do research online, read other consumers' reviews, compare prices, and even purchase from a reseller from another state with considerable ease. Same goes for basic tasks such as purchasing insurance, managing finances and taxes, learning languages, finding jobs, learning about legal rights and benefits, and even getting basic medical information to save a trip to the hospital. Suddenly, lower-income families that can at least afford the internet have a lot more time on their hands to take care of themselves, as well as a lot more information.
Additionally, prices inevitably go down. Ease of access to multiple sellers, as suggested above, means that competition is greatly enhanced, especially as price comparison becomes instant. Secondary markets for used goods reduce the amount of waste, while allowing many to purchase goods they would have otherwise paid full price for. Finally, internet-based alternatives also tend to be much cheaper than their traditional counterparts--telephone services, streaming television, and all the web-based stores that don't need the overhead required by a brick-and-mortar storefront.
On a social level, the playing field has arguably been leveled quite a bit by the internet. A clear example is the ease of well-coordinated internet-based grassroots campaigns, such as that during Obama's 2008 campaign for presidency. Even news is no longer completely controlled by the main outlet, as the influence of bloggers has risen over the years. Previously impeded by a lack of coordination and information, the public can now be more politically and socially active than ever before.
People are no longer as isolated and thus vulnerable to the power of larger bodies such as government and large incumbent corporations due to the internet.
However, from the viewpoint of the ISPs, abusive network discrimination would be most profitable if it favored those larger bodies--they are more organized, wealthy, and powerful than the individual consumers. This is shown by the above examples of discrimination in recent memory, where the discriminatory methods were used to make the internet look and feel less like the internet and more like traditional incumbent-controlled industries. In fact, this is the very reason that those traditional industries look the way they do.
Technology's effect on society can vary vastly based on its particular uses--the same technology that might aid and support the lower classes might also be employed to keep them down. The internet and its uses today are far from perfect in this regard, but its overall effect is still positive. Currently, private interests only have undue influence due to their familiarity and popularity, as any third party can still compete at least in terms of access and network infrastructure. However, this may change even without our knowing, with private interests actually using their control over network infrastructure to disrupt the social effects of the internet.
-- StevenHwang - 17 Feb 2009
Thanks for the comment--I did not realize we were supposed to be checking the wiki still, so I didn't get it till today.
My paper (r2) was meant to be half-commercial and half-philosophical argument, based largely on Gerald Cohen's "Rescuing Justice and Equality" (2008) (i.e. social justice requires the consideration of a hypothetical first-person discussion between the oppressed and the oppressors--otherwise defensible positions based on arguments in the abstract may not hold water in such conversations, and thus fail to be considered truly just). It's a tough point to make in a single parenthetical, but my essay was an attempt to take it to an extreme and somewhat absurd level (said anthropomorphism and pseudo-autobiography) while retaining the general point--that there really isn't a just way to defend a system of competitive network management, as you put it. I had also hoped to add a touch of personality and humor (via the tone and the links). I had this all laid out in an introduction in the original 5k-word draft.
The illustration was a forced after-thought and clearly it came off as such.
Anyways clearly it failed in its delivery, so I'll rewrite based on your comment. I'm not 100% sure about how to hash out an oversimplification (net neutrality) while making it less complex and easier to digest, but I will do my best. The former part of your comment (simplifying the problem, making it easier to digest) might be more the focus of my revision than the later (inability of the concept to grasp even a significant part of the real problem). In my opinion, oversimplified and intellectually irresponsible is better than not understood and obscure--at least for my purposes. I'll give it a shot sometime today.
-- StevenHwang - 08 Feb 2009