May 20, 2009 | Digital Rights

Cory Doctorow, the Canadian blogger and science fiction writer, has come out against ISPs’ increasing efforts to throttle and control bandwith and Internet accesss.

He argues in the Manchester Guardian that:

• ISPs are censoring sites that they don’t agree with for whatever reason, including striking workers’ sites. It’s also outrageous to allow a service provider to block or reduce customer access to its competitors.
• ISPs are complaining about high bandwidth users requiring them to implement download and other limits, but the real intent behind such limits is to reduce access to sites such as Hulu and YouTube which are competitors to the cable and media companies that also have ISP divisions.
• Download limits will make users hesitant to try new things on the web.
• Besides, you don’t know how much bandwidth a given link will use until you click on it.
• Telecom firms have been massively subsidized by the public in the form of rights-of-way and monopolies. They owe it as a public trust to provide free and open Internet access.

The story is being discussed on Slashdot here.

Some interesting comments there:

One poster comments that, in the web host he works for, the bandwidth usage varies for specific users, but is very constant for all users combined, as would be predicted from statistics. It’s very easy to plan bandwidth needs from month to month.

Another commenter says that, instead of having private companies own the data lines in the ground, the government should contract with companies to bury the lines, pay them, and then own the lines, just as it does with roads.

Finally, Japan is providing Internet access at an amazing 160 megabits per second for $20 a month. So how come they can do that and Verizon and the like can’t?

I have to say the Doctorow’s arguments are persuasive. Given the rise of sites such as Hulu and Youtube, it’s not just a few users who are downloading illicit movies who are hogging bandwidth. ISPs who slow access to such sites or impose limits are at war with their own customers.

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