Could the flow of Internet traffic be restricted?

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Tweet One of the most unique aspects of the Internet is its ability to provide the public with anything — homemade YouTube videos, snarky bloggers or even porn — and that could be in danger of changing because of telecommunication companies.

This idea may seem a little far-fetched, but large service providers and broadband companies are pushing Congress to pass legislation that would alter the way Americans use the Web.

Net neutrality

Internet activists are pushing for Net neutrality, or, essentially, keeping the speed of each Web site — from local Web sites to CNN.com — the same. Broadband companies, like Comcast Corp. and AT&T, want to decide what consumers see first and at what speeds. In simplest terms, the bill would allow for a tiered Internet system in which Web sites pay Internet service providers, or ISPs, to have their sites sent over the Internet at higher speeds than sites that do not pay.

Steve Wildman, a professor at MSU and co-director of the Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law, said right now everyone is paying for the same speeds, but if changes were made, it could cause problems for smaller companies.

"One example I can give is look at Google and Yahoo and the competition they have," Wildman said. "Say the consumer believes Google is much faster than Yahoo because Google is doing something with a back-end higher server, or possibly paying a higher price for a higher speed.

"If the law goes through, someone like Comcast Corp. could charge Google a higher price or possibly deny access altogether, which would give Google a lower speed or allow people to see Yahoo before Google," Wildman said. "What this means is you just end up with discrimination across the Internet."

Politics of the Internet

The issue has now become political as well. Senate bill, S. 2686, is going through the Senate Commerce Committee before it makes its way to the Senate floor.

Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the chairman of the Commerce Committee, introduced the telecommunications bill, but does not support Net neutrality and wants to give ISPs more freedom to regulate the Web.

"I just the other day got an Internet … sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday, and I just got it yesterday," Stevens said in a committee meeting June 28. "Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially."

A competing bill, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, was introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., which ensures Net neutrality would continue.

Spokespeople of both Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said the senators are waiting until the bill makes it out of the Commerce Committee before they take a stand on the Senate's version of the telecom bill.

Ron Choura — a telecommunication, information studies and media professor at MSU — said the Senate's version of the bill would alter the way people use the Web.

"There are many things attached to this bill, and it almost feels like everything is involved in this bill except Net neutrality," Choura said. "This bill is not only going to affect the Internet; it is going to change the way we do business with certain companies."

Choura said this situation is comparable to an issue that came up more than 75 years ago.

"An analogy I can think of is the problem between the railroad and shipping cartels of the 1930s," Choura said. "The shipping cartels were told by the railroads to pay a certain fee or they wouldn't ship their shipments. This debate led to future anti-trust laws that are still being used today, and the current debate we are seeing right now could lead to similar laws being created."

Choura added that companies like Verizon or AT&T could do whatever they wanted if a bill without Net neutrality protection is put into effect.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its telecom bill, HR 5252, with no provisions supporting Internet neutrality.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., supported the House legislation.

"Phone companies and cable companies will have to compete with one another for our business," he said in a statement. "This competition will drive down prices and improve the quality of service."

Rogers believes the bill will benefit Michigan.

"In the 21st century economy, the wires running into our houses are the wires that carry our future," Rogers said in a press release. "The only way to make Michigan competitive in a global economy is to make certain that we have the access to high-speed, multiple-use telecommunications services."

Local effects

Dave Gift, vice provost of Libraries Computing and Technology, said all of MSU's Internet traffic goes off campus to Merit Network, Inc., a statewide server that branches out to all the universities in Michigan.

Gift said this network also traffics through other major carriers, like Quest Communications, throughout the state. All of these carriers charge Merit Network, Inc., which, in turn, charges schools like MSU.

But with the Net neutrality, Gift said there is a split within the university because a tiered Internet is not entirely a bad thing for MSU.

"(A tiered Internet) makes sense for us and could be a positive because … (carriers) would be able to deny access or give out slower speeds to junk, like viruses and spam, and make our network a lot safer," Gift said.

"The risk point here is it might get more expensive to pay for a higher class of service.

"Even though there is still a very competitive environment for data exchange, the carrier market has a consolidate — meaning fewer companies — which leads to price-fixing. What is tricky is it is very hard to predict where the prices would swing to."

Gift added that in situations of price-fixing, in which companies would have the ability to raise prices, the university has trouble taking a stand on where those prices stay, since the schools are only a small piece of the puzzle.

"If something like price-fixing were to occur, we don't have enough clout as a sector to hold those prices down," Gift said.

Some businesses are not as worried about losing Internet neutrality or any effects it may have on them.

Kevin Schoen, the president of ACD.net, 4980 Northwind Drive, a local server, said the company doesn't expect to take a hit but could see a content provider feeling the pressure if these bills passed.

"There shouldn't be a major effect to our company," Schoen said. "The major content providers are going to get hit really hard by this."

Schoen said even though bigger servers like Comcast Corp. and AT&T might want to charge more money, ACD.net plans to treat its customers the same way it always has.

"We are going to stick by our philosophy of treating our customers fair," Schoen said. "Why charge more, anyway? We, as a company, are more interested and worried about making our traffic faster and more reliable."

Justin Kroll can be reached at krolljus@msu.edu.

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