Google and Verizon propose net neutrality act

It is not a legal document, it’s only a policy proposal that was submitted for consideration to the US Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It’s not a law, not a bill, but could provide freedom to all American internet users.

Network neutrality is the principle according to which no internet service providers should be allowed to restrict or discriminate access to the world wide network based only on the contents of the data transferred using their means.

The proposal – backed by two major players on the American telecommunications market, Google and Verizon – could well influence the future of the broadband internet access in the United States, maybe even in the whole world.

Broadband internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon wish for a private service, an Internet separated from regular Internet, a network that would allow them to offer services that don’t even exist yet – like health care monitoring, gaming, online entertainment or online education. The proposal seems to imagine two separate networks: the public internet, accessible for everyone, and the private internet, offering premium services (paid, of course).

The network neutrality debate leaves out the fastest growing means of internet access, the 3G and EDGE-powered wireless mobile internet access. According to Google and Verizon, this industry is too competitive and too fast growing to be included in such a debate yet.