[St0rm[TitE]]

i've been reading up on 'net neutrality' and other stuff, especially about how our different ISP's want to 'govern' the internet.

the internet was started so that no 'gate keeper' kept watch and that it would evolve.

the way i see things going in the not too far distant future are this:

ISP's breaking off and forming there own internet, i.e for example AOL having their 'own' internet that subscribers can only access and cant access any other competitors network. there would be no 'internet for all' as providers would have stopped this and only their content what they say you can see is what you get.

in other words, BT customers get 'BT internet' only and 'virgin' customers get just that. gone are the days of searching google and getting millions of results, on the AOL network (as an example) you may only get a few hundred. all depends on what sites have signed their content up to what provider....

to go even further and a few years into the future , what if i was say i was an AOL user and i went to access this site and it said "you will have to pay a £??? a year subscription to 'virgin internet' (example) to continue to use your forum."

[Bravo]

I doubt it...the first isp to break ranks and offer the full deal would rake it in, they'd all know it, so they wouldn't go down that road

[admin (no pm's please)]

It is looking at the past and not the future!

Compuserve did do this before the internet was too big to ignore, they had to capitulate.

[St0rm[TitE]]

the first isp will one day soon break ranks (probably after governments decide to 'police' the net or something), then others will follow.

i still think soon the internet as we know it wont exist in its current whole capacity, it will be monitered, it will be policed, governed and everything it once stood for banished.

[Symon]

Remember Sky ?

When it first came out every channel was included in the small fee per month.

I suggested at the time that soon you would have to pay to watch the sports and other prime channels. I was laughed at ,, now look at it .

[admin (no pm's please)]

The issue people have with the net is how to convince people to pay for premium content?

On the information front a lot of the internet has good content for free, and instances of worse content that has to be paid for.

It does not encourage people to pay money for content.

[CodyT07]

The ISP thing gets me (why do we need ISPs?), Shouldn't internet be open to everyone with a computer and modem?

Net neutrality is where ISP want sites to pay them so their site 'loads faster' while others 'take longer or don't open at all'.

Internet does needs a 'big brother watcher'.
Hackers and such are a huge problem, if internet is open their isn't a way to stop them. Microsoft can't put together a good OS to stop these things, something needs to be done.

[admin (no pm's please)]

Well the internet is not something that you can just drive on like a road, someone needs to get it to your door which means either a national government run grid or the current ISP system, and that is a debate that would run and run  

Security is of course the big issue, and one that I think will be part of the undoing of Microsoft, nothing they can do to their OS's is going to defeat malware, and people will download malware whatever anyone does to try and stop it.

In the end I think people will end up with many internet connected appliances, running many operating systems, none of which will be billys.