Sunday, 28 November 2010

Two Speed Web In UK

In the UK the 'coalition' (sounds like a war government doesn't it?) have decided that instead of having a web neutral Internet in the UK, where each web site is served to your browser at the same speed, regardless of the the 'importance' of the site you are viewing, we will have a two speed system.

Communication Minister Ed Vaisey says that in future ISP's can throttle back the speed of delivering content of sites that they deem less important i.e. Those that don't 'pay more' to be classed as important. Sites which refuse to pay could see connections slowing to a crawl, while those who do pay would pass costs on to consumers ...... even those customers who paid for the highest-speed Internet connections could find their favoured sites slowing to a crawl if the website did not pay for a premium link.

A Communicator Who Can't Communicate ...

This is obviously a two pronged attack on the Internet and Web as a tool and medium for all, and suddenly on the 'Big Boys' will be 'first class' users, the rest of us schmucks will get a second class service ........ if the rest of the world ignores this new situation, then the UK could end up as backwater where international customers just disappear.

Increasingly I dislike the course that this 'coalition' is taking over a number of issues, but this is an outright attack on me and others (75% of the UK have Interent access) who use the web as both a tool of commerce and entertainment ..... it should at least be noted.

Oddly as I wrote this I found that Mr Vaisey had been doing some back tracking ..... "We're not saying one ISP should be able to prioritise one provider's content over another and I don't support the commercial decision to downgrade a rival's site." He added that he thought people who criticise him for abandoning net neutrality haven't read his speech: "I say the same as Berners-Lee." (Founder of the World Wide Web, who has strongly defended Net Neutrality), in which case he communicated this like a drunk with a sock in his mouth  ......... so we shall have to wait and see.



     

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