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Network neutrality is an important principle of the free Internet. It exists as an abstract concept for most people and yet has profound implications for the future of the network we use every day. The core principle is that Internet service providers or ISPs have to treat all traffic equally regardless of what it carries and what the connection points are. This is hardly very difficult to understand or accept. The electricity that you use everyday costs you the same regardless of whether you want to power on a dishwasher or toaster. One might consume more power than the other but the rates are standardized and even if the electricity companies knew about the appliances which are plugged into your house, they have no business interfering or managing it depending on that.

Just like the Postal Service delivers all packages on a standardized basis regardless of what is contained in them, ISPs also have a duty to deliver Internet traffic to any two points regardless of its contents and protocols. You might ask why they would ever want to do otherwise. The prime reason is that ISPs have a vested interest in preventing several of the Internet services from achieving their full potential. For example, Internet messaging is replacing SMS service at a rapid clip - and this is something the ISPs would like to avoid. The core problem of course is that there is a serious conflict of interest at work.

It doesn't take a genius to understand that VoIP is a direct threat to the telecom companies. Unfortunately, the telecom companies are also the ones who act as Internet service providers. It is for this reason that special rules have to be put in place to ensure that the telcos don't misuse their power and give preferential treatment to their own networks.

Governments all over the world have a checkered history when it comes to implementing network neutrality. Only a few countries have made network neutrality into a law. The rest, have ambiguous policies when it comes to this matter. For VoIP to be able to compete on even ground with the PSTN system, it has to receive the same treatment as all network traffic. It cannot be slowed down, it cannot be subjected to extra charges and cannot be blocked. Everything is data after all - and the ISPs are data pipes. What goes through those pipes is none of their business. Customers pay for bandwidth by the MB or GB. And that is all that should matter.

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