You might expect suppliers to greet a surge in demand with
celebration. Apparently not ISPs, who fret that new online video
services will damage their networks. Never mind that modern
transport protocols automatically "throttle back" when
congestion occurs. If that were not enough to arouse suspicion,
consider that the FCC's "Four Internet Freedoms" allow consumers
to use any legal device with their connection, but make a
specific exception for devices that harm the network. Such cries
of harm give ISPs a secure footing from which to block streaming
video, or extract monopoly rents from new streaming
applications. History and economic theory both suggest that such
tactics are stifling to innovation. With the stakes so high,
claims of network damage deserve much closer scrutiny than you
provided. Paul Laskowski Berkeley, California