Is it time to let internet companies provide premium access to paying websites and services?
No, says technology commentator Bill Thompson. The net should be like a canal and not care about what travels on it One of those loud and angry debates that seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the world is currently playing out in the US. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is considering making changes to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, and one of the ideas being floated is that network providers should be allowed to offer preferential service to some of their customers instead of providing a neutral data carrier service. Back in 2004, Michael Powell, at the time chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said that net service firms should support “network freedom” and ensure that their users could access all lawful content and attach whatever devices they want to their network connection without any discrimination. Now some of the big telecoms companies want to be able to sell premium services for things like streaming video or voice over IP
