Abandoning Network Neutrality Won't Improve Service

ABANDONING NETWORK NEUTRALITY WON'T IMPROVE SERVICE
[SOURCE: HearUsNow.org]
A new study by researchers at the University of Florida says one of the primary arguments being used by opponents of net neutrality is not true. Leading opponents of net neutrality -- mostly big Internet service providers such as cable and phone companies -- say they would have much more of an incentive to expand and improve their services if they were able to charge online content providers such as Yahoo! and Google for preferential access to their customers. Not so says Kenneth Cheng, a professor at the University of Florida's Department of Decision and Information Sciences. “The conventional wisdom is that Internet service providers would have greater incentive to expand their service capabilities if they were allowed to charge,” says Cheng. “That was completely the opposite of what we found.” Cheng's team discovered that cable and telephone companies providing broadband to deliver the content of companies such as Google and Yahoo! are actually more likely to expand their infrastructure -- resulting in quicker loading and response in a customer’s personal computer -- if they don't charge these companies for preferential treatment.
http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2007/03/study_says_abandoning_ne...

* The Debate on Net Neutrality: A Policy Perspective
http://www.hearusnow.org/fileadmin/sitecontent/TheDebateonNetNeutrality.pdf