Imagine if your internet service came in different grades: if you were willing to pay $40 per month, your access to the Net would be as fast as possible; if you were only willing to pay $30 per month, it would be a little slower; and if you were only willing to pay $20 per month, your access to web resources would be slower than midgrade access.
Senator Rob Wyden introduced legislation a few days ago that would prevent you from ever having to make this choice. Wyden's bill - the Internet Non-Discrimination Act of 2006 - prohibits Internet network operators for charging differential rates to content providers for delivering information to end-users. The primary benefit of this net neutrality bill would be the preservation of open, democratic access to a diverse array of resources on the web.
While the FCC has stayed out of this fight, phone and cable companies are openly hostile to the idea of net neutrality that animates Wyden's bill. They want to be able to pay network operators to ensure that their websites are accessible as quickly as possible. Hopefully the consumer groups and their friends in Congress will win this one. We certainly don't need dedicated conduits to carry information more quickly for those with deep pockets. Let's leave the net as it is - open, neutral, and capable of facilitating democratic discourse effectively.