On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:51:41 -0700, Darren New wrote:

>  What's the benefit that comes from allowing ISPs to refuse to
> deliver certain kinds of content, or content from certain providers of
> information that are otherwise legal?

I think the real problem isn't so much in allowing ISPs to refuse to 
deliver certain kinds of content, but the line provider being an ISP and 
then refusing.

The loss of choice, then because the carrier provides the ISP service as 
well (as in the case of AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, etc) where you're 
locked into using their ISP and their line.

The setup I have is not unique, but it is relatively uncommon; I use DSL 
service from Earthlink, but they don't provide the line, Covad 
Communications provides the line - and actually that's a shared line with 
Qwest (since they provide the wire to the house).

With the cable companies in the US, they behave as a common carrier in 
that they are the sole provider of the line, but you can't (AFAIK) choose 
to use a different ISP if you use the cable provider.  So in my locale, 
Comcast controls the line and the network access, and the problem is them 
deciding arbitrarily that they aren't going to give reasonable (or any) 
access to, say, Qwest's online resources.  Comcast provides a telephone 
service as well, so if you get your 'net access from them, they *could* 
unilaterally decide to prevent you from paying your Qwest bill online by 
preventing you from visiting their website[1].

What I think needs to happen is that the line provider needs to be 
classified as a common carrier.  Common carrier status means they have to 
treat all data equal, and the service providers (ie, the one providing 
the network address and access to the Internet at large) then compete on 
features, access, availability, and bandwidth options.

Jim

[1] I'm not saying they'd actually do that, and that customers wouldn't 
be pissed off and make noise about it.  I am saying that if they decided 
to do that, they could tell the customers "well, you have a choice, you 
can go with lower-speed DSL, so suck on our truck nuts."  There would be  
a certain percentage who would switch to Comcast for phone service as a 
result, a certain percentage who would grumble and accept it, and a 
relatively small number who would say "screw you" and drop Comcast.

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