| It's been widely reported that the big carriers are tyring to turn the net from free to fee and charge content providers for privileged acess to their pipes. More details on this from CNN. Where does this leave the adult industry?
It's bad enough that they want to set up toll booths between surfers and sites like Google and Yahoo. Obviously, they want these sites to pay them. The cost of course, will be passed on to the surfer by these other sites. Sort of like you rent a car ( pay monthly internet access fees ) and put in fuel enough to visit a particular place ( pay for faster access to one website ). So, if Google agrees to pay for faster access, they'll have to pass on the cost to you and if Yahoo does not, that means you won't be able to visit Yahoo with the speed and ease with which you do now.
What concerns me is not that they're planning to implement this, but is it possible that adult sites will pay carriers for top-tier access? Maybe Playboy and one or two others, who of course, will add he cost to their subscribers. What happens to the little guy and his personal website? He can't afford to pay for top-tier access, and neither can his subscribers. I mean, first you have to come up with the big bucks to pay the carriers, and then hope that you can add the cost to your membership fee and still expect surfers to sign up...Pretty long-shot. Of course, the same applies for little guys on the mainstream side, but most of them for on pay-per-click, using Google Adsense and other affiliate programs, plus they have a regular base of visitors. The difference here is that the adult industry, specifically porn sites, are based purely on volume traffic - Traded, blind, affiliates, anything. ookmarkers are a very little part, and new signups don' come from them. New signups come from fresh traffic. And if you can't pay to get your site loaded fast, specially with video previews and big images and flash, then you can kiss your site goodbye.
Here's Bill Gates in NewsWeek - "Today's search engines are good at locating tidbits of information in an ocean of data, and even at finding answers to simple questions. The next step is pattern-recognition engines and mental models to help people mine and assess the value of all that information, and technologies that infuse online data with meaning and context. None of this is science fiction: the technologies that make it possible already exist.
The power they hold is hard to exaggerate. Inventor Robert Metcalfe theorized that the value of a network is roughly equal to the square of the number of people using it. "Metcalfe's Law" applies equally to knowledge: being able to tap into the world's finest thinkers as easily as we can now search the Web for information will revolutionize business, science and education. It will literally transform how we think¡Xand help us finally realize the potential of a truly global knowledge economy."
Well, Mr. Gates, with all due respect, if you agree to the broadband tolls, you're article in NewsWeek was a waste of my time and your literary talents.
What this whole ruckus also means, also of acute significance to the online adult industry, is that surfers will be sent on different pipes based on the site they are visiting. Next step - Big Brother steps in and says that he wants 'increased monitoring' and detailed reports about all activity on the 'adult pipe'.
Update : 26th April 2006 : Fight Over Net Neutrality. Article in Cnet News says "A committee vote is expected Wednesday on a Republican-backed proposal called the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act, or COPE Act. Democrats say the bill's portions dealing with Net neutrality don't go far enough to restrict telecommunications companies for levying fees for faster access."
Well, it won't will it, considering that there's a lotta quid-pro-quo to get this bill passed going on. Question : Will this be business as usual on The Hill, or will saner voices prevail and punt this issue down the road? Considering that there's an election around the corner, and this hits directly at the media, I have a feeling that it's punting time.
Update : 31st April 2006 : Key House Panel Defeats Net Neutrality. Article in Yahoo News says "The GOP House leadership rejected calls Wednesday to preserve the Internet's open and democratic nature in the United States. Phone and cable industry lobbyists breathed a sigh of relief as the House Energy and Commerce Committee defeated, 34 to 22, an amendment to a broadband communications bill (known as the Barton-Rush Act) that would require "network neutrality."
A vote in Committee ain't a law. It needs to pass the whole Senate and The House. Still don't see any chances of that happening anytime before November. In fact, it's doubtful that it'll even come up for a vote in the full Senate before the mid-term Congressional elections. I'll be updating as and when there's any news, but don't expect too much to happen.
Update : 1th June 2006 : House rejects Net neutrality rules. Artcle in CNet News says "The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected the concept of Net neutrality on Thursday...".
The vote was along party lines, with Democrats voting for it and Republicans against. This is just the beginning. There's going to be a lot more votes, and a lot of paper devoted to this. And the elections will have a big impact on the outcome of any bill related to broadband tolls and net neutrality. Stay tuned.
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