Issue Seven - Conversations on Technology, Business and Society

allowed to develop through the demands of
the market forces? Or is it a key service that
– like the postal service – every citizen has
a legal right to access? In a recent opinion
poll commissioned by the BBC, 79% of the
respondents across 26countries considered it
to be a fundamental right.
“Some worry that an
increasingly commercial
internet, and increasingly
congested networks, will
afford no space the next time
demonstrators for democracy
in countries such as Iran try
to use digital technology to
communicate their efforts and
sacrifices to the world,” says
Neelie Kroes, vice president
of European Commission for
Digital Agenda.
Some see the increasing
use of traffic management as
a threat to the spirit of internet
and the innovation it brought
with it.
“The consequences of a world
without net neutrality would be devastating,”
said a spokesperson for pressure group Save
The Internet (www.savetheinternet.com).
“Innovation would be stifled, competition
limited and access to information restricted.
Consumer choice and the free market
would be sacrificed to the interests of a few
corporations.
“Without additional regulation, service
providers are likely to continue doing what
they are doing. They will continue to offer
THE DOUBLE ISSUE | www.pctechmagazine.com
a variety of broadband service plans at a
variety of price points to suit every type of
consumer.”
Market forces aren’t only about pleasing
customers, though. There are other ways
in which ISPs can use traffic management
Campaigners say, using the Sandvine system to obstruct
BitTorrent file sharing is playing dirty with users internet
connections
to their commercial advantage and to the
detriment of rivals – and customers.
PROTECTING FREEDOM OF ACCESS
The question, then, is whether
governments should legislate to ensure
that the internet presents a level playing
field for both businesses and customers, and
is equipped to cope with innovation. The
stakes couldn’t be higher.
“Broadband is a tipping point,” said the
former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown last
year.
“High-speed internet access will soon be
essential for everyone. Only a digital Britain
can unlock the imagination and creativity
that will secure for us and our children the
high-skilled jobs of the future global
economy.”
Understanding your power to
choose begins with understanding
what traffic management measures
your ISP already implements, and
whether this provides you with the
level of service you want.
The internet has become a global
resource, and so far it worked
under an informal assumption of
net neutrality. In the future, internet
access will be a balancing act
between the demands for bandwidth
and profit motives of the companies
able to grant or deny access. As
consumers, our most effective means
of telling ISPs what we want me is how
we spend our money.
SEPTEMEBER - OCTOBER 2010 | PC TECH
COVER STORY 33