digitalv - 12:42 pm on Dec 21, 2010 (gmt 0)

How about we cross that bridge when and if it happens?

The last thing we want to do is give the government even MORE authority to regulate the Internet. Providers who restrict access will be dropped in favor of providers that don't, and their contracts will not be upheld in court because the service you agreed to when you signed it isn't the same service you're getting if they make a change.

So, in your example, if Verizon decided to disable the Google Maps app, my contract with them would be void and I could switch to another provider. I'd rather take my chances that private companies aren't going to make decisions that will cost them customers than give the government any more authority.

We don't need the government's brand of "net neutrality".

Besides, what ever happened to the rights of businesses and their owners? Most of us here run servers of some kind... Do you think we should be legally obligated to host #*$! sites or allow access to them through our networks? When you really get down to it, it isn't that much different... it's the government telling businesses what they can and cannot allow on the Internet, period. Where does it end?

And as for priority bandwidth, why not? Do you think a guy wearing a holter monitor that sends real-time EKG readings back to a medical datacenter through the Internet shouldn't be allowed to have priority bandwidth over you accessing your Facebook page? Net neutrality would prevent a carrier like Verizon from prioritizing the bandwidth to that medical data center.

It's not the government's place to tell Internet providers how to run their businesses.