The internet is over!

[tw]

From the Washington Post of 23 Apr 2008:

Comcast's Network Practices Need Scrutiny, FCC Chief Says
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin ... said in his testimony that it appeared Comcast had singled out content for delay over its network, even when the network may not have been congested with overuse. He also said he doubted the company's statements that it would stop some of its practices by the end of the year.

Why does Comcast just not turn off the software today? Why wait 8 months to stop filtering network content?

The entertainment industry, meanwhile, is divided on net neutrality. Yesterday's panel included Hollywood writers and actors who testified in favor of regulations that would prevent media companies and cable and telecommunications carriers from controlling content over the Internet networks.

"The Internet holds incredible potential to resurrect a vibrant industry of independent creators with free access to, and distribution of . . . content," Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West, said in his testimony yesterday.

But groups such as the Songwriters Guild of America have argued against net neutrality, saying a network without controls would effectively enable rampant piracy and copyright infringement.