From the Editor
Cisco network control-a dumb idea! I 'm an admirer of Cisco Systems. After all, it is hard not to admire a company that has the management to recognize network trends and capitalize upon those trends, either through internal product development or acquisitions. However, all good companies periodically come up with dumb ideas and I believe a recent Cisco white paper entitled Controlling Your Networks is one of them.
For those of us that do not follow the massive flow of information from Cisco, earlier this year they published the previously mentioned white paper. This paper describes technology that could be used by cable companies to limit the throughput at which cable modem subscribers receive content of their rivals, while allowing content they generate to reach users at full speed. Using this technology it becomes possible for one cable operator to make it difficult for subscribers to use the facilities of rivals.
Although all is fair in love and war, this development of technology to differentiate service in the manner Cisco proposes leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If a cable operator is successful in getting subscribers to switch to services they provide, will they then raise prices after they kill the competition with discriminatory delays? If a lower portion of subscribers switch, what will the cable operator do next? Will they double or triple the delay for IP packets arriving into their infrastructure from their competitor sites? If that doesn't do the trick, will they add an additional delay until either all subscribers switch or they are forced to watch their screen updates resemble paint drying on a wall?
Although Cisco is free to offer any technology it develops, I feel this is a dumb idea. Even more stupid will be the service provider that attempts to implement this technology in a discriminatory manner. It is one thing to implement technology for the benefit of subscribers. It is just plain discriminatory to implement technology to impede the flow of data from a competitor.
The Internet was developed as a mechanism for the exchange of information. While it is laudable to develop technology to expedite the flow of data, let's make our voices heard that we will not tolerate the use of technology as a discriminatory business tool. If your cable operator should take Cisco up on their white paper, tell them in no uncertain terms that you will prefer DSL or even V.90 modem access to the Internet. If enough people stand firm, perhaps we can stop this dumb idea in its tracks.