UK ISPs Want BBC To Pay For Upgrades
ISP’s in the UK have decided that since the BBC’s iPlayer is being so successful that they should contribute to a network upgrade to properly handle the new traffic.
The job of an ISP is to allow access to the Internet for their customers. For that service, they charge the user on a monthly basis. Why should the BBC, just because they are providing a now popular destination for those customers, provide any sort of financial backing to the ISP? The ISP is charging for a service, if they are unable to provide that service at the cost they are passing onto the consumer, then their business model is flawed and they should be charging more than they are.
And why single out the BBC? Are the ISP’s going to make similar demands to anybody else who creates a site to which customers flock? Is YouTube on the line? Or Flickr? Are they going to come knocking on my door if I create something that really starts pumping out those bits?
The ISPs seem to have misunderstood their position in the Internet hierarchy. They are a gateway to content, not a gatekeeper (and they don’t want to be a gatekeeper, for that makes them liable for everything that passes through). Asking to be paid from both sides is not only greedy, but it starts a slippery slope for both consumers and web content providers.
