I have written about this a few times already – but it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Internet service providers, like AT&T (until recently SBC) want to charge me for Internet service, as they should, and then charge those who provide the content too.
That’s a major change in the way the Internet has run. If I were AT&T, that’s what I’d want too. But is it fair or right? I don’t think so.
Let’s put it another way. I pick up my phone and call Sergio’s to order a pizza. Should AT&T be able to charge Sergio’s for telling me what’s on the menu, or is my paying for the call enough? It always has been.
Here’s what AT&T’s president Ed Whitaker has to say:
“Not the piece from the customer to the network…but for accessing the so-called Internet cloud”
What they are leaving out is that the content provider is ALSO a customer of *someone* and IS paying for their access to this “cloud”. I hope they don’t think people are dumb enough to think that google and yahoo don’t have to pay someone to provide them bandwidth as well.
Wendie is obviously out of town or otherwise occupied.