Leave it to Larry Lessig to sum up the net neutrality discussion:

Now Congress faces a legislative decision. Will we reinstate net neutrality and keep the Internet free? Or will we let it die at the hands of network owners itching to become content gatekeepers? The implications of permanently losing network neutrality could not be more serious. The current legislation, backed by companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, would allow the firms to create different tiers of online service. They would be able to sell access to the express lane to deep-pocketed corporations and relegate everyone else to the digital equivalent of a winding dirt road. Worse still, these gatekeepers would determine who gets premium treatment and who doesn’t.

No Tolls on The Internet, By Lawrence Lessig and Robert W. McChesney, Washington Post, Thursday, June 8, 2006; Page A23

It’s that last sentence that is the real rub. We’ve always had different speed connections to the Internet. What could happen now is that telcos could decide who gets which speed and which quality of service based on who they are and what content they are providing, not just on whether they can pay the price.

Larry outlines the outcome:

Without net neutrality, the Internet would start to look like cable TV. A handful of massive companies would control access and distribution of content, deciding what you get to see and how much it costs. Major industries such as health care, finance, retailing and gambling would face huge tariffs for fast, secure Internet use — all subject to discriminatory and exclusive dealmaking with telephone and cable giants.

All while we know it doesn’t have to be this way. Until this year, it never was this way in the United States. And Japan and Korea have chosen to go ahead with faster bandwidth provision and more and better applications and content at the same time.

Congress is deciding on the fate of the Internet. The question before it is simple: Should the Internet be handed over to the handful of cable and telephone companies that control online access for 98 percent of the broadband market? Only a Congress besieged by high-priced telecom lobbyists and stuffed with campaign contributions could possibly even consider such an absurd act.

Abolishing net neutrality isn’t even good for U.S. telcos in the long run: it will make them less competitive. In the meantime it’s not good for anybody else, from individuals to businesses. So let’s put it back the way it should be: one Internet, end-to-end, diverse and free.

-jsq