Justice Dept Opposes Net Neutrality

By Cernig

Why am I not surprised that the Bush administration's heavily politicized Justice Dept. is in favor of more corporate welfare? Want to bet this is the quid pro quo for all those wire taps?

The Justice Department on Thursday said Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic.

The agency told the Federal Communications Commission, which is reviewing high-speed Internet practices, that it is opposed to "Net neutrality," the principle that all Internet sites should be equally accessible to any Web user.

Several phone and cable companies, such as AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp., have previously said they want the option to charge some users more money for loading certain content or Web sites faster than others.

The Justice Department said imposing a Net neutrality regulation could hamper development of the Internet and prevent service providers from upgrading or expanding their networks. It could also shift the "entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers," the agency said in its filing.

It seems counter-intuitive to argue that allowing ISPs to provide different levels of service/speed for different content will benefit consumers. But I wonder what Instapundit and other Bush-backing members of SaveTheInternet.com will have to say?