Digital Home Thoughts: Trucks, Tubes and Net Neutrality

"...Verizon is covertly preparing its newest customers for a world without network neutrality. A few weeks ago the telecommunications giant announced it would be installing fancy new routers with its high-speed fiber-optic cable service known as FiOS... Sounds great, right? Not so much. The router that comes with new installs of FiOS, according to Verizon's press release, "supports remote management that uses new industry standards known as TR-069, enabling Verizon to perform troubleshooting without having to dispatch a technician." Whenever I see the phrase "remote management," I get antsy. That means Verizon can talk to your router from its local offices, which the company claims is all for the good of the consumer. However, if you actually read the TR-069 standard, you'll see that Verizon can do a lot more than just troubleshoot. It can literally reflash all the memory in your router, essentially reprogramming your entire home entertainment system. As a result, Verizon can alter its service delivery options at any time. Even if you've signed up for a network-neutral FiOS that sends you to whatever Web sites you like and routes your peer-to-peer traffic the same way it routes your e-mail, Verizon can change that on a whim. With one "remote management" event, the company can change the settings in your router to deliver Fox News faster than NPR. It can block all traffic coming from France or prevent you from using Internet phones that aren't controlled by Verizon. Verizon's new router is also great news for anyone who wants to wiretap your Internet traffic. All a bad guy has to do is masquerade as the Verizon "remote manager" and he or she can fool your nifty router into sending all your data through his or her spy computer. The more people allow companies like Verizon to take arbitrary control of their "personal Internets," the less freedom they'll have -- and the more vulnerable they'll be."

A little off-topic here, but Annalee's got a fantastic point. If 'net neutrality' is defeated, how long do you think it will be before free services are outbid by big corporations and we no longer have reasonable access to them? Programs like Picasa or something as benign as Google Earth could be put in jeaopardy if someone like AOL decides to make their own and bid for placement in your pipeline. Now, at the moment, this kind of control is limited to the fiber-optic access Verizon is offering, but it probably won't be too long before this sort of thing shows up in regular cable modems, all in the name of customer service. :evil:

Personally, I think something like the Internet belongs to all of us (the world) and it's debatable whether we (the U.S.) even have the right to legislate it in the first place. What do you think?