Could Xbox Live Ever End?
Many of you have probably heard of, “Network Neutrality” in passing, but I’m not sure how many people actually know what it is.
From what I remember, and know, Network Neutrality is basically the Internet version of the 1st Amendment (freedom of speech). If Network Neutrality was to go away, in favor of a “sponsor-like” Internet, it would be a dream come true for big business, and a nightmare for the average person. As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of Microsoft, so this is not some sort of blanket bias for all rich companies and the way they do business, this is something entirely different.
What we would be in for is ISPs, like Comcast providing the service, but without Network Neutrality; companies, interest groups, Government interests, like the military branch, or really anything else with a lot of money, would control and decide what you see. The Internet would essentially be sponsored BY the outside companies. For example, Verizon could pay your ISP some money to have their site load extremely fast, but at the same time, their competitors’ websites, like Sprint, would load extremely slow, if at all. It would create a bidding war for the Internet, and small business, and small websites, like this one, would not be able to pay the money to ISPs to stay afloat. There’s also talk of a Government sponsored Internet (possibly existing alongside the Network Neutrality-free Internet) which would basically provide the basic needs, but of course, any information and sites is going to be slanted towards whichever Government is in power.
To be clear, this is not some kind of conspiracy theory against Conservatives, or Bush, or whatever else, this is reality. You can type in Network Neutrality into any search engine, and find out information about it, and you will see all the information concerning it. From what I understand, the Senate has already OK’d the non-existence of Network Neutrality.
This is the first link I found concerning Network Neutrality and the current happening with it.
No one knows how the Internet will actually be, but with the way businesses work, you can clearly see the way we’re headed. If Network Neutrality were to fall, it would threaten Xbox Live immensely. Not only would the Internet be slower in general, but if any competitor of Microsoft, or Xbox Live wanted to, they could pay off the ISP to lag customers out of Xbox Live, that is of course if Microsoft doesn’t use it’s money to ensure it never goes down for any of it’s customers, but I’m not sure even Microsoft has the money to throw around just to keep the Internet clean for it’s customers.
Why I wrote up this little entry though, is just to inform the few hundred people who come to this site daily, and get you reading about it. Go to some sites, get informed, and even call your local reps in Government if you feel strongly enough for (or against?) Network Neutrality. MoveOn.org’s ‘Save the Internet’ Campaign explains the situation as the following:
Congress is now pushing a law that would end the free and open Internet as we know it. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet’s First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. So Amazon doesn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.
Many members of Congress take campaign contributions from these companies, and they don’t think the public are paying attention to this issue. Let’s show them we care - please sign this petition today. ÂÂ
Here’s a ‘funny’ video though, showing possibly what would happen, using Halo 2.
Once again, I want to say this is not a left or right issue, so you can love or hate President Bush, you can be a liberal, conservative, it doesn’t matter, this is a neutral issue when it comes to party sides and the common person. From what I’ve seen though, it seems the Democrats are pushing for this more than any others, but I have not looked at the specific list of Senators, and who voted for what, and what party they were from. Do not underestimate the power of money when it comes to the Government, and especially when it comes to greedy ISPs like Comcast and AT&T (and I know you all know what I’m talking about with that one.:))
June 4th, 2006 at 11:31 am
I had no idea that this was going on. Thanks for giving us the info!
June 4th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Wow, this is absolutely insane. Thanks for letting me know about it!
If this ever went through, I might just kill somebody.
See, folks? Playing video games doesn’t make a person violent! It’s taking away video games that does.
June 5th, 2006 at 12:44 am
There are more than a few errors in this blog entry. Let me put this whole “net neutrality’ thing another way:
What if you could be sure that:
1. When using Skype or Vonage, you would almost never have any audio problems, and you always came through loud and clear to the person you are talking to and vice versa.
2. When playing Halo, you would almost never have any lag issues or server disconnects.
3. What if your favorite websites, instead of taking 8 seconds to load, loaded in 4 secs?
4. What if you could download a full movie in 20 minutes instead of 2 hours?
To get all these features, you would simply pay your ISP an additional $5 a month. Would that service interest you?
I bet most people would be interested.
Now, let me ask another question. What if your neighbor, who has 4 kids, works 2 jobs, and has his mother-in-law living with him, cannot afford this luxury? Would you call that unfair and ban this $5 service?
In capitalism, as in life, sometimes things are not fair, or not as fair as we would like. Wanna try another form of economics? Communism, socialism? These usually do not work out too well, but some people would say they are more “fair.”
Would you rather live in a country where:
1. Some people have almost nothing, a lot of people have quite a few things, and a few people can have anything.
2. A lot of people have little, and some people have a lot.
This is WAY oversimplified, but according to history, and even now, this is how things turn out.
When looking at these arguments, also realize that “free speech” really has nothing to do with it. Under a system of NON-net neutrality, you would NOT be blocked from going to any site.
Example:
First-class passengers on a plane get to board first, get better food, better seats, and generally more amenities. But, EVERYONE GETS TO FLY.
Capitalism = Pay more, get more.
Thanks for listening,
Michael Greer
June 5th, 2006 at 5:30 am
Thanks for the comment Michael, very well put, I wish I had the time right now to critically look at every single peice of information regarding this so that I could fully respond, but I want to ask one thing that should make sense if I have all my thoughts straight.
If Net Neutrality is taken down, from what you say, it would just create a more “Premium” internet for those who value that kind of thing, like first class on a plane, but with planes and all that, they still have other rules to abide by (ex. they can’t stuff the other people in the cargo for example). It seems like Net Neutrality is the only rule on the Internet right now, if we take it down, what’s to stop AT&T and Comcast from doing ANYTHING they want with their bandwidth and prices?
I already know from personal experience that Comcast will absolutely kill you with their prices in areas they have no competition, but in other parts of the country, they will do anything to keep you as a customer, and slash their prices in half. I’m sure almost everyone has had billing problems with any ISP or phone provider (like Comcast and AT&T, etc.) and I just worry about giving these companies, who have shown they care about money, and nothing but it (as they should I suppose), absolute power over the internet, it’s just asking to get exploited.
June 5th, 2006 at 7:43 am
too-shay…
June 6th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Sent emails/letters and the like. I hope others will do the same. It’s very sad that in a country like America, that claims to value freedom above all-else, we’d try something like this.
Oh well off to make some illegally wire-tapped phonecalls and wait for my house to be raided because I said the president was a douche-bag on AT&Tnet…
June 7th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
David’s right. This country is going down the crapper pretty quickly. First a war based on lies and now our freedom is being stripped from us. This is quite ridiculous.
June 8th, 2006 at 10:17 am
Yeah it’s quite pathetic to see people get up on stage in front of flags and go “FREEDOM! Freedom freedom freedom? FREEDOM FREEDOM! FREEEEDDOOOM..vote for me” and then pull stuff like this.
The internet was invented by America, and I think it represents some of the best of America. Both in freedom and technology/innovation. To now try and ruin that is a complete disgrace. It goes against everything this country is supposed to stand for.
I think people across the entire political spectrum would agree that a few big corporations controlling the internet is a very, very bad thing.
June 8th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
The only comment I have to make on the subject is simply that America does not own the internet. No one country does. It is a colective of information etc. from many contries. All with different laws. If the law makers in the US decide that will stop Net-Neutrality then their laws can only possibly apply in the US and to web sites/service providers in the US. All it seems to me that this could end up doing is creating a “US Internet/s” and a “Rest of the World Internet”. Speaking as a person from a non-US country it seems to defeat the whole purpose of having an internet in the first place.
June 9th, 2006 at 6:46 am
I didn’t mean to imply that it was owned by America but that it was created by America. I don’t think the internet should be “owned” by anyone. That’s part of the freedom of the internet that makes it so great.
June 15th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Once again,
“Were from the Goverment & we’re here to help you. Now bend over….”
October 18th, 2006 at 8:49 am
[...] No, it’s not a new Nine Inch Nails song, or the death of Net Neutrality, it’s just a day of Xbox Live upgrades/maintenance. In case anybody forgot, Xbox Live will continue to be down for just over another 12 hours. That is also the reason why there’s a weird image to your right where my Gamercard usually is. [...]