Paul Kapustka's Blog
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June 28, 2006
SF Chron gets 'astroturfed' on net neutrality
Try as hard as they can, the good folks at the San Francisco Chronicle just can't quite grasp the nuances of the debate over network neutrality. If they could, they never would have let this piece of drivel run on their editorial pages sourced as something from "a national nonprofit research and education organization." Pul-eeze. The only thing missing from the Heartland Institute's missives are the AT&T letterhead.
There's really little need to rebut Mr. Titch's mournful missive -- since it's full of the same bromides the telcos have been force-feeding down everyone's mouths the past few months. For one example, you just have to love an essay that purports to contain knowledgeable technical information trotting out an argument like this one:
When Disney/Pixar wants to use the Internet to deliver its hit film "Cars" in high-definition, six-channel stereo DVD quality, the enormous video, audio and control codes crossing the networks require a high level of real-time, error-free transmission. If service providers can't recover the costs of delivery from content providers (i.e., Disney), they must spread it among all users. This leaves one-hour-a-day surfers paying the cost of servicing 24/7 bandwidth maniacs.
Hmm. Last time I checked my broadband terms of service, I didn't see anything in there about "well, we sold you 7 Mbps, but don't hog it, buddy!" The idea that somehow my contract with a service provider affects yours is absurd, like we're all sharing a party line. Talk about a disconnect.
And: Those people downloading films illegally using new technologies like BitTorrent seem to be doing just fine. Guess maybe there are other ways to achieve that "real-time, error-free transmission."
Back to the point -- that the SF Chron lets Mr. Titch rant on without identifying his shadow group as an outfit that clearly is serving the goals of corporate masters. Those who have reported on this industry for a bit have found the Heartland's claims of independence wanting, just like their explanation as to why they don't reveal who their corporate sponsors are.
All of this is not to say that the Chronicle shouldn't give Mr. Titch and his backers room to rant: far from it. But they shouldn't blindly accept his definition of his group either, without a little fact-checking of their own.
Posted by paul at June 28, 2006 02:07 PM