Don't Worry, It's Worse Than You Think

If you're looking for a good way to understand the impact of Net Neutrality (or the lack thereof), you need go no further than this article on newsforge.com, under the byline of James Glass. (Thanks to Dave Passmore for passing me the link.) The article describes in horrifying detail what it takes to start a service for cell phone users as a way of putting what a lack of Net Neutrality could portend for the Internet in concrete terms.

As the bio information at the bottom notes, James Glass is not the author's real name. According to the site, the author is "the owner of a company currently trying to navigate the minefield of running a third-party service on the cell phone networks." He wrote this article pseudonymously "because the cell phone companies have the power and freedom to crush his company by blocking it from their networks."

Read it and weep. Or better yet, write your congressional representatives.

Later: You can read Dave Passmore's latest take on this issue, including his take on Verizon's practices, in his recent column "Unacceptable Use."