Study Claims Harm Without Net Neutrality

Telecomweb writes about "The latest analysis regarding the heated dispute over network neutrality claims there is likely to be substantial harm to consumers and the Internet economy "if Congress abandons" the net neutrality principals in pending telecom reform legislation. A new 20-page economic analysis released today by Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America and Free Press - which have been among the public interest groups in favor of net neutrality - says the foundation of the debate is a dispute on whether service providers that provide network infrastructure, meaning the major telcos and cablecos that control last-mile broadband access facilities, should be allowed to differentiate their products. But the reports maintain that network differentiation may be associated with last-mile broadband access providers engaging in the strategic manipulation of technology that will enable discriminatory practices that adversely affect the utilization and production of Internet content, services, and applications. The public-interest-group report was designed to rebut claims of such net-neutrality opponents as Christopher S. Yoo, a Vanderbilt University professor, and the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies that the benefits claimed for abandoning the principle of standardized, open communications network are small or non-existent." Read the rest here.