Net neutrality essential, says Berners Lee
By Elizabeth Smythe
13/05/2011
Government officials and prominent web bodies have been told that net
neutrality is of vital importance by the creator of the world wide web,
reports New Media Age.
In a meeting to discuss issues around the management of web traffic, Sir
Tim Berners-Lee spoke to Department for Culture, Media and Sports
officials as well as mobile operators, broadcasters, IT system management providers and ISPs, disagreeing with the government's view that net neutrality was not required in the UK.
Net neutrality ensures that all data services are given the same right
to bandwidth as any other, regardless of destination or source, says The Guardian. The government had called for management of sites which use greater bandwidth, like YouTube.
Without neutrality, it's likely the net would become tiered, with faster
broadband speeds being given to media companies who pay the most,
something ISP providers have argued for over the last few years.
However, campaigners believe it would be wrong for traffic to be
provided at differing speeds and quality over the open internet.
Berners-Lee emphasised that neutrality was essential for best practice,
specifically as the web had grown so fast because it comprises of two
independent markets: the first for connectivity, the second for content
generation and applications.
He continued to propose three best practice aims, cited in The Telegraph: "The
first is that users should be able to access all legal content. Second,
there should be no discrimination against content providers on the
basis of commercial rivalry. And finally, traffic management policies
should be clear and transparent."
The government, meanwhile, wants ISPs to create their own self-regulated system, rather than imposing compulsory net neutrality.
