US backing for two-tier internet

The US Justice Department has said that ISPs should be allowed to charge for priority traffic. The agency said it was opposed to “network neutrality”, the idea that all data on the net is treated equally.The comments put the agency at odds with companies such as Microsoft and Google, who have called for legislation to guarantee equal access to the net.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6983375.stmAlso see:

Net neutrality hopes hit by DoJ criticism

The US Department of Justice threw its weight behind telecommunications operators, warning telecom regulators against imposing ‘net neutrality’ rules that would block carriers from charging content providers premium prices to prioritise some web traffic
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/72aa6548-5cc3-11dc-9cc9-0000779fd2ac.html
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/07/1188783431412.html [AP]
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2007-09-06-priority-web-traffic-charge_N.htm [AP]

Bush Administration Restates Position on Proposed Internet Traffic Policing Rules

The Federal Communications Commission should not enact new rules to prevent telecommunications providers from discriminating against certain kinds of Internet traffic, the Justice Department said in a filing with the Commission Thursday.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/09/bush-administra.html

Ten things that finally killed Net neutrality

If you haven’t heard much about Net neutrality this year, you’re not alone. It went from being the political equivalent of a first-run Broadway show, with accompanying street protests and high profile votes in Congress, to a third-rate performance with no budget and slumping attendance. So what killed Net neutrality? Declan McCullagh gives his list of reasons.
http://news.com.com/8301-13578_3-9773538-38.html

A Possible Missing Piece of Net Neutrality Puzzle: Backbones and Peering? by Susan Crawford

I remember being told three years ago that, in general, internet backbone issues weren’t really a subject for regulatory involvement, and didn’t need to be. Although the last mile was a problem, the upstream fat-pipe relationships weren’t – they were all competitive and thriving. Or at least that’s what people thought. Over the last couple of days I’ve been looking around trying to figure out what the facts are about backbones and peering. It seems that we don’t even know what we don’t know..
http://www.circleid.com/posts/79512_backbones_peering_points/

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