Caution: Toll Road Ahead

Link to June 15 New York Times article, "Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic".

Quote:

Internet metering is a throwback to the days of dial-up service, but at a time when video and interactive games are becoming popular, the experiments could have huge implications for the future of the Web.

Millions of people are moving online to watch movies and television shows, play multiplayer video games and talk over videoconference with family and friends. And media companies are trying to get people to spend more time online: the Disneys and NBCs of the world keep adding television shows and movies to their Web sites, giving consumers convenient entertainment that soaks up a lot of bandwidth.

The culprits:

Time Warner Cable. “Internet metering” plan is introduced in Beaumont, Texas.

Comcast goes after "bandwidth hogs".

AT&T says limits on heavy users are inevitable.

Google Ups the Ante on Net Neutrality

Link to June 13 Hot Hardware post, "Google To Develop ISP Throttling Detector".

Quote: Google has been very vocal on its stance for net neutrality. Now, Richard Whitt--Senior Policy Director for Google--announces that Google will take an even more active role in the debate by arming consumers with the tools to determine first-hand if their broadband connections are being monkeyed with by their ISPs.

The best summary of net neutrality is not found, unfortunately, at the American Library Association's website, but rather at the ACLU. (ALA needs to learn that sometimes less is more; its summary is a prime example of logorrhea.)

The Place To Be

A long line of people snakes around the James Predergast Library Association in Jamestown, New York, for the start of the annual book sale. (Jamestown is located 20 miles north of Warren, Pennsylvania. If you've read my profile, you'll know the reason why this bit of information caught my attention.)