Technologicology & Net Neutrality: Two Things You Know Nothing About And Can’t Pronounce
After the jump, Brian James Kirk puts two and two together and comes up with how Comcast just sneaked in a precedent-setting “fuck you” in the war against net neutrality.
Technologicology & Net Neutrality: Two Things You Know Nothing About And Can’t Pronounce
Wedding bells are ringing, but this isn’t a time to celebrate.
Comcast’s partnership with BitTorrent is a shady attempt at saving grace. While some are seeing it as a victory for bandwidth-intensive net apps, I wish someone could have been there to stop the ceremonies.
At first glance, it would seem a win for both sides. BitTorrent can confidently claim a marginal spot out of the limelight of their pirateering past, continue to pass itself off as an educational tool and improve its network consistency working directly with Comcast engineers (more telecoms are sure to follow suit). But, I can’t come up with a single reason why Comcast decision isn’t back-handed. Fuck it; I won’t even try to fight the utilitarian business meddling established at the start of… time. Instead, just consider (some of) what Comcast is trying to get away with:
- Comcast is facing FCC charges for limiting BitTorrent traffic.
- Comcast will now have a system of rules for what BitTorrent can and can’t do.
- Comcast has somehow, someway, erased Net Neutrality out of this picture.
God Damn. That’s a hell of a wrap sheet, kiddos. And still, I’ll even let some slack for those first two. But I can’t let them slide on the Net Neutrality issue.
I have avoided writing about Net Neutrality because frankly, I know I’m gonna screw up the definition. I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching it, reading columns from analysts on both sides of the issue. I’ve read about the technological basis for it, the companies behind it, and the politicians against it. So, I’ve come up with my own definition: Shit Show. Despite my insecurities, I need to explain it for the unfamiliar. Please don’t be offended if I sound a little like Ted Stevens.
The Internet is not one physical place that we connect to; its a million different places that we connect to by paying telecommunication companies to connect us. In the same way, destinations like Philebrity.com pay telecommunication companies to make that connection. Telecoms believe that they have the right to decide how we make that connection; Since its run across their lines, they think they should be able to decide at what speed and at what cost. Their idea, up until last week, was that companies like BitTorrent should have to pay more because they use more bandwidth serving up videos than sites like Philebrity, who serve text.
Net Neutrality is the idea that all content served on the Internet is equal and telecommunication companies should have no ownership over the control of that information. It’s been a theoretical, political, and technological issue for several years, and nothing has really progressed besides media interest, political tact, and bickering.
What does this have to do with last week’s announcement? What we’ve been missing is tiny, seemingly insignificant. BitTorrent’s co-founder and president Ashwin Navin’s reaction, as recorded by the Inky:
“We are thrilled with this,” Ashwin Navin, cofounder and president of BitTorrent, said of the agreement. BitTorrent traffic will be treated the same as that from YouTube Inc., Google Inc. or other Internet companies, he said.
Well shit, Navin. You must feel lucky. You must feel lucky to be back exactly where things were before Comcast started messing with your traffic. You’ve had to claw, bite, and sign a contract to get back where you were when things were right. Now, Comcast has set the precedent that your users are lucky to be on their network using their utilities.
What this shows is that Net Neutrality, an idea that is so very democractic, is fighting an uphill battle where there was once great leverage for it. Telecommunication companies have convinced the media, if not the country, that they deserve this right to restrict content. And we pat them on the back when they give away the charity of free information.
To Comcast, I say: This ain’t a charitable organization.
To the rest of you: Wake up before we give away what we’ve fought to have.
Brian James Kirk is a writer and adventurer living in Philadelphia. By adventuring, he means occasionally to friends’ homes for games of Balderdash. If you know a Philadelphia technology scoop that would fit this space, you are graciously encouraged to get in touch.
Previously: The Portable Technologicology: Are You Sirius? You Have To Be Transmitting Me
