Network Neutrality Refers to the absence of restrictions placed on the type of content carried over the Internet by carriers and ISPs that run the major backbones. It implies that all packets are delivered on a first-come, first-served basis and no priority is given to traffic coming from any Internet venue above and beyond that of another. Also called "Net neutrality," network neutrality became an issue as major search engines such as Google and Yahoo! increasingly generated massive amounts of traffic compared with other sites. It also became an issue because some carriers that offered subscription-based VoIP services were also transporting their competitors' VoIP traffic.

This is a very contentious topic because major carriers are lobbying to eliminate network neutrality and be able to charge Web sites extra fees to carry higher traffic. Down the road, it implies that owners of all Web sites may have to pay additional fees in order to prevent their content from bogging down in a low priority queue. The Internet leveled the playing field due to network neutrality. Without it, startup sites and small Web sites would be at a disadvantage compared to large, established sites.

Columbia University law professor Tim Wu popularized the phrase network neutrality as a term designating a network that does not favor one application (for example the World Wide Web) over another (such as online gaming or Voice over IP). Wu claims that the Internet is not neutral "as among all applications" as it favors file transfer over real-time communication.

Additionally, large Internet content and network providers maintain that network neutrality primarily concerns the question of whether or to what extent networks should be able to favor or disfavor certain subdivisions of applications, such as certain websites. in the case of the World Wide Web or certain brands of Voice Over IP or any other application.

Network neutrality also designates a contemporary controversy mostly local to the United States regarding the role that government should take relative to Internet access providers providing multiple levels of service for different fees. This controversy, which emerged following regulatory developments in the United States, is extremely complex, as it mixes technical, economic, ideological and legal arguments. In essence, network neutrality regulations bar ISPs from offering Quality of Service enhancements for a fee.

Net Neutrality is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and on the modes of communication allowed, as well as communication that is not unreasonably degraded by other traffic.

The principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for a given level of access, that the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access.

since the early 2000s advocates of net neutrality and associated rules have raised concerns about the ability of broadband providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block Internet applications and content (e.g. websites, services, protocols), particularly those of competitors. In the US particularly, but elsewhere as well, the possibility of regulations designed to mandate the neutrality of the Internet has been subject to fierce debate.

Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms.

Opponents of net neutrality characterize its regulations as "a solution in search of a problem", arguing that broadband service providers have no plans to block content or degrade network performance. In spite of this claim, certain Internet service providers (such as Comcast) have intentionally slowed peer-to-peer (P2P) communications.^[1] Still, other companies have acted in contrast to these assertions of hands-off behavior and have begun to use deep packet inspection to discriminate against P2P, FTP and online games, instituting a cell-phone style billing system of overages, free-to-telecom "value added" services, and bundling.^[2] Critics of net neutrality also argue that data discrimination of some kinds, particularly to guarantee quality of service, is not problematic, but is actually highly desirable.

Internet service providers (ISP) is a company that provides Internet connections and services to individuals and organizations. For a monthly fee, ISPs provide computer users with a connection to search the web

Links

Deep packet inspection provides the tools that ISPs need to throttle, cap, and spy on users. Depending on who you believe, it might also save the Internet. Deep packet inspection meets 'Net neutrality, CALEA

Save the Internet 

DefendNetNeutrality.org 

Network Neutrality Information from Answers.com 

[1] Peter Svensson (2007-10-19). "Comcast Blocks some Subscriber Internet Traffic, AP Testing shows". The Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
[2] Deep packet inspection meets 'Net neutrality, CALEA