Content delivery networks safe from net neutrality… for now

[Commentary] Content delivery networks (CDNs) are essentially digital libraries, allowing multiple copies of content to be placed strategically around the world. A request for Netflix’s House of Cards from Miami doesn’t need to go all the way to Mountain View (CA); it can be served closer to the user. In addition to caching, CDNs enable website acceleration, enterprise applications, peer to peer communications, and live video. The next stage in the evolution of CDNs may involve adaptation to individual users and self-organizing content delivery with associated quality of service levels.

So if the definition of net neutrality is that all traffic is treated the same and that all traffic moves at the same speed, then CDNs are already upsetting the balance. In any case, CDNs were specifically exempted in the 2010 Open Internet ruling. However those rules were struck down and the Federal Communications Commission is now going back to the drawing board. Thus CDNs are back on the table, along with all the other service providers.

If net neutrality morphs into regulation of interconnection, not just the last mile, as some net neutrality theorists suggest it should, it could bring this bustling connected TV affair to a grinding halt. Content providers, applications, and websites operate in a competitive environment. Using a CDN is a way to leverage technology to improve user experience and enhance market share. To say that this is unfair or discriminatory is to rebuke the market system itself. It is precisely because firms compete, whether by leveraging technology or creating partnerships, that consumers benefit.

[Layton studies Internet economics at the Center for Communication, Media, and Information Technologies (CMI) at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark]