[GLLUG] Re: Network Neutrality (Brendan Bartlett), toll road analogy

[Brendan Bartlett]

True but the analogy still holds.  We could consider the difference in the
amount paid by trucks/buses vs cars as paying for their relative bandwidth.

Let's say I pay my ISP $50 for a network access and a certain amount of
bandwidth.  We know that Google is paying gazillions more than $50 a month
for their network access and bandwidth.

I'd have less problem if I thought this was simply a technical issue.
However, I think this is simply a case of a shrinking profit margins.  The
providers have always oversold their actual capacity on the theory that most
users won't be using it 24X7 and when they are using it they won't be using
their maximum bandwidth.  Now they're pissed because they've got users out
there that have the nerve to actually want to use the full or a large
portion of the services they purchased.  This causes more work balancing the
load and ultimately less profit.  I'm not opposed to them making a profit.
I am, however, opposed to them increasing their profits at the expense of
the users just because they can.


> Actually, your toll road example is a good one, but you are wrong on how
it works. Trucks and busses do pay >more, because they use it more. They
take up more space, and inflict more damage on the pavement, so the cost >to
get down the road is higher.
>
>As much as I want my provider to never get in the way of getting to
content, I also understand the importance of >quality of service. There is
no way we could run voice video and data over our WAN without setting
preference to >certain types of data. Treating every bit the same isn't
viable with the long term goals people have for the net, but >saying all
file sharing is bad isn't the option either. Definitely a problem for the
network engineers to fix, not the >legislators.

-- Andy

-- 
There are 10 types of people in the world--those who know binary and those
who don't.  (DoLooper)
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