The Jeff Pulver Blog: Who Knows Why Some Thoughts Find an Audience and Some Don't?

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January 19, 2006

Who Knows Why Some Thoughts Find an Audience and Some Don't?

I apparently hit a few nerves over the past few days both within the blogosphere and the more mainstream media. It is weird which blogs find resonance and which fall on deaf ears. Frankly, I was thrilled that my Google-BellSouth blog has prompted such widespread debate. My goal was only to incite critical discussion.

I, however, must admit that I was more thrilled that Mark Cuban picked up on my blog posting about his conception of a tiered Internet, and was moved to comment on my blog. I think it is pretty clear that I have deep admiration for Mark. I sometimes regret that the comments to my blog require a second click to reach, and therefore are occasionally ignored. For this reason I feel compelled to include Mark Cuban's post within this blog:
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Hey Jeff. Actually what you are suggesting below, is the exact opposite of the impact of tiers.

"But, it seems Mark is actually suggesting that the Internet Access Provider gets to determine which bits ride the fast-lane and which bits ride the breakdown lane."

A retail store cant refuse to sell nickel candy bars to any given person any more than an MSO, wireless provider, carrier or telco could be prejudicial towards or against a customer. I guess someone might make the argument that you can get drunk on too much bandwidth and refuse to serve, but i dont see thats a fit :).

The reality is, that right now, as suggested by another commnt, tiering is already done, and its based on the amount of money spent or revenue opportunity percieved by the carrier. If you buy enough bandwidth, host enough servers or spend money in other ways, there is no question you get the pretty routes and the fine tuning goes your way. Content providers pay through this directly, or through CDNs.

I personally would rather see tiers that are defined (and i have not problem if they are regulated) and allow the little guy to take advantage.
Bring me a multicast tier. Bring me an API for a bit torrent client that the ISP distributes to every client. Bring me tiers that are adhered to across peering points.

Everyone has the option of buying the service options any tier offers, or not buying it. If not, hopefully, because the traffic on the tiers is better managed, then those not buying have better levels of service than we get now in a world where whoever spends the most, gets the best.

I think we want the same thing. I think part of the disconnect is that the VOIP world thinks the Telcos will screw them at every turn, where I think if you manage them, given there is competition from MSOs and others, and more comp for the last mile coming from wireless (although at the low end of service), then you end up in a better spot then if you ignore the current situation which gives priority to those who spend the most.

Adn in terms of HDNet and delivering HD content, I dont imagine a net, with or without tiers that can support 8mbs continous unicast streams that offer the same quality of delivery as current video delivery options in the next 20 years.

In fact, with the exception of FIOS offerings, the telcos are the least capable of EVER reaching the point of offerng streamed HD over the net.

sorry for the typos..on my wireless

Posted by: mark cuban at January 18, 2006

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Food for thought from one of the great Internet, media, and entertainment visionaries. I still disagree, but I am glad we are engaging in the discourse.

Tags: Net Neutrality, Google, BellSouth, Jeff Pulver, Mark Cuban

(c) 2006 Jeff Pulver. All Rights Reserved.
(This blog posting is copyright protected by Jeff Pulver. Portions of this blog posting may be quoted or abstracted if attributed.)

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Posted by jeff on January 19, 2006 06:25 AM | Permalink

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Trying to reconcile the logic, here. I look at the tiered service in my area:
1] Abysmal local ISP service from a very small pool of choices for 56k dialup
2] DSL from Qwest providing 26kb/s download, if lucky, and no other companies competing
3] Outrageous pricing for better service (not even sure I can get it, if I had the money)
4] Cable hookup through Mediacom, which matches phone company pricing
5] Have seen some Dish antennae around

The next round of consolidation by the FCC, and I lose, almost certainly, choice of where I can go on the Internet, as I am one of those Mark mentions that doesn't pay the money. His logic misses the issues, doesn't it? Why doesn't he address issues that are relevant to the discussion. We're talking about infrastructure, not retail markets.

Posted by: Tom Poe at January 19, 2006 10:22 AM

January 19, 2006

Who Knows Why Some Thoughts Find an Audience and Some Don't?

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