Net Neutrality Advocates Part of new U.S. Administration (Hooray!)
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So while we don't get too much into politics and general telecommunications news, the issue of "Network Neutrality" is highly relevant for all you WMExperts out there. And make no mistake about it: we here at WME strongly advocate the "dump pipe" model for mobile internet access.
Net Neutrality, for those who aren't in the know, is basically what we have now: your ISP cannot dictate what computer, software, OS you use to access the Internet and they cannot arbitrarily control network speeds, giving primacy to their own content while shafting their competitors (although Bittorent has thrown a wrench into this i.e. "traffic shaping").
However all is not well, as many ISPs (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and even Sprint/XOHM) are either advocating or flat out implementing restrictions on how you can use the internet. This is what many in the industry (Amazon.com, Microsoft, Google, Intel, Skype, Yahoo, etc.) all fear, as it takes the choice away from the consumer and gives the power to the ISPs. Those against net-neutrality are even getting bills passed in their favor to benefit their interests. Yikes.
(Still unsure of what is at stake and what all of this means? Click here to get a primer.)
Good news though: President-elect Obama has appointed two net neutrality advocates to their FCC review team (they guide the President on pertinent FCC issues). While this doesn't guarantee a positive outcome in this debate, it sure feels a lot better.
Considering Windows Mobile users are literally at the cutting edge of mobile technology--we're arguably the most open and unrestricted of the iPhone/Android/RIM crowd--this issue of net neutrality is what drives our community, resulting in a trickle down effect for everyone else. Bringing things back to mobile -- the line between your broadband pipe for your desktop and your mobile internet is inevitably going to blur in the future, so it's going to apply. Even if we're wrong on that prediction, more restrictions on your desktop would likely make it easier to add restrictions to mobile broadband.
