Thursday, February 02, 2006

Is Verizon a Network Hog? Not yet ,, but they must be stopped !! Support "network neutrality." !!

"Is Verizon a Network Hog?"
News Analysis
By Catherine Yang
http://businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060202_061809.htm

"The telecommunications giant wants to devote most of its capacity to its own traffic, to Internet companies' dismay

"At issue is what the Internet of the future will offer. Critics of the phone industry say the Net has flourished because innovators anywhere could reach consumers just as easily as deep-pocketed corporations. But if Verizon and AT&T set up tolls and express lanes, upstarts may not be able to afford the fees. "If you deliver video the way Verizon does now, that makes it very hard for others to compete," says Carnegie Mellon's Sirbu.

LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY. The Net companies are trying to persuade Congress to pass a law ensuring that broadband providers, such as the Bells, don't discriminate against rivals when they charge tolls or prioritize traffic, an idea called "network neutrality."