Speed Bumps on the Information Highway

SPEED BUMPS ON THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Tom Abate]
In this age of information, wealth and ideas flow through wires and cables just as wheat, iron and other goods once traveled over railroads and highways. Who controls today's digital thoroughfares, and whether they get to charge extra for safe and speedy passage, has emerged as a potentially defining debate for the Internet. This issue is commonly referred to as "network neutrality," a slogan that leans heavily to one side of the argument. The debate, which the Senate is poised to consider as soon as this week, centers on whether all Internet traffic should be given the same delivery treatment at the same price, as it has since the start of the Internet, or whether the companies that deliver the traffic to consumer's homes can charge heavy users more. A major reason for the debate is the Internet's stunning growth -- and the new uses to which companies and their customers are putting it. A system once used almost exclusively for e-mail is now eyed by businesses that want to send huge video files as large as 75,000 e-mails. The result is a growing traffic jam that threatens everyone's deliveries.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/18/NET.TMP
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