泥中蟠龍‘s Game愛歌 Should keep net neutrality alive? Part 01



이중반룡의 게임애가
泥中蟠龍‘s Game愛歌
[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]
 

Should keep net neutrality alive? Part 01

July. 12. 2018.

The Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality rules in December 2017. It also has an influence on the net neutrality repeal in South Korea. It's hard for us to express our personal opinion about this issue in many ways. Meeting many different people working in the field of contents industry, I see people around me having the opposite opinion of me. It's not easy for me personally talk about this issue, so I'd like to express my idea in writing hoping that I could convince many people to agree with me.
 
By definition, net neutrality is as follows:
 
"Internet service providers and government treat all data on the Internet equally, and not discriminate differently by user, content, platform, type of attached equipment, or method of communication."
 
Net neutrality is divided into two main categories in the market.
The first claim is Internet service providers' stance. They argue that business operators using more data should pay more based on data usage because there is a big gap among operators' usage. They also assert to introduce zero rating. Zero rating is the practice of providing Internet access to certain websites without user's financial cost and content providers pay network fees on their behalf. They say that it brings benefits to Internet contents providers since it helps them to attract more customers. The Internet service providers also insist that net neutrality should be repealed due to high data traffic rising every year requiring them to increase equipment investments. A telecommunication company executive said, "Doing business freely in the lobby of a hotel where someone built."
 
The second claim is Internet content providers' stance. They argue that network is public goods and internet service providers should not private property-like control network which is social infrastructure. They also insist that it can be double charge if Internet service providers charge content providers, while they collect the bill from their subscribers. And they say that the abolishment of net neutrality will instigate unfair business practices between Internet service providers and finally will hurt users.
 
I took a look at opinions on net neutrality. I would like to see whether net neutrality should be kept alive in the next column.

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013. 
    (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

    Translation by Kim Ki-hui


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