Vint Cerf, early Web technologists show support for Network Neutrality

Vint Cerf, Stephen Crocker, David Reed, Lauren Weinstein and Daniel Lynch sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski to say that Network Neutrality rules are necessary to ensure the growth of technology on the Web. "We believe that the existing Internet access landscape in the U.S. provides inadequate choices to discipline the market through facilities-based competition alone," they wrote. They also slammed critics for mischaracterizing the effects of such rules on the Web. "One persistent myth is that 'network neutrality' somehow requires that all packets be treated identically, that no prioritization or quality of service is permitted under such a framework, and that network neutrality would forbid charging users higher fees for faster speed circuits," they wrote. "To the contrary, we believe such features are permitted within a 'network neutral' framework, so long they are not applied in an anti-competitive fashion." Cerf, who co-designed the communications protocols used for the Internet, wrote that a push for stronger Web access rules would create competition and ensure companies that produce applications for the Web aren't blocked by the network operators such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T.