The following content has been automatically translated by close 

Network Neutrality and Real Estate

By Expert Author: Jim Sparrow | Article Abstract
Word Count: 485 words | Views: 201 view(s)
Real estate agents may have more invested in the network neutrality debate than they think. In an industry heavily dependent on Internet access, even a slight change in the rules of access could cause most professionals to re-think their business models. Agents and brokers who don't enjoy the pervasivity of the Internet could find themselves in favor of a tiered network (non-neutral network), while many other professionals are likely to emerge as vocal opponents of the trend.

The concept of network neutrality has been largely defined by companies and organizations who want to preserve it. The coalition includes such unlikely allies as the Google and Microsoft corporations, as well as big names like eBay, Intel, and Amazon.com. Other key members of the network neutrality coalition include most democratic politicians, FCC Commissioners, and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee. Many major newspapers, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle have also backed network neutrality efforts. With all this support behind it, network neutrality is getting attention, and will likely remain at the forefront of American public policy debates until it is resolved, one way or the other.

Network neutrality has the potential to affect all aspects of the Internet, and dramatically shift the balance of power - exactly why Google and Microsoft are two of its biggest supporters. The concept aims to preserve an "open and free" Internet, by preventing large telephone and cable companies from having any preference about the type of content is delivered over their networks. In short, the telephone and cable companies want to charge a premium for web sites that load faster, a move opponents claim would essentially turn the Internet into a toll highway.

Some supporters of network neutrality claim the shift is already happening, and are urging government to pass regulations to stop the Internet from slipping further into a fee for service model, similar to the cable television industry. In 2007 Comcast Corp, the nation's second largest Internet service provider, was accused of stifling communications over the Internet after many of its subscribers reported slow connection speeds. Comcast later confirmed the accusations, saying that placing bandwidth limits on file sharing users of its network was a justifiable way to keep web traffic flowing for everyone.

Internet service providers argue that network neutrality may limit the development of advanced services, and continue to allow the Internet's most harmful content, such as viruses, spam, and worms to continue spreading unchecked. For real estate professionals, the question becomes how a tiered network might affect the ability to provide content. Small real estate companies may lose the ability to provide content quickly, and large ones may find themselves pressured to service more markets.

Real estate professionals who want to maintain an online presence should work to understand both sides of the network neutrality debate, so they can be ready with a business plan when the issue is decided.
Jim Sparrow

About the Author/Author Bio

Visit JimSparrow.com for more information about online property marketing in the Calgary real estate area. The website features extensive information on Calgary market trends, a free home search, and information on local micro-markets such as the Acadia real estate area.

Article Source: http://www.ar.articlesphere.com/Article/Network-Neutrality-and-Real-Estate/126096

Article Submitted: 2008-02-20 | This Article has been viewed 201 times.

Rate Article

Related Videos

Learn about Social Network Etiquette
Understanding your Home Network Router #7 - Network Parental Controls
How to Set Up a WiFi Network On a Mac
Understanding your Home Network Router #10 - Getting Info from Your Router
How to Improve Wireless Network Performance
 

More "Internet Scams" Related Articles

 
 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Internet Scams" article category.

People interested in the above article "Network Neutrality and Real Estate" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 
A recent flood of consumers concerned with debt and budgeting indicates a growing number of families are turning to the internet for help with their financial troubles, but online scams and fraud are hurting rather than helping many online consumers.
Today more and more people use their computers for pretty much everything - from communicating with friends and family to online shopping, investing and banking. This all makes life a lot easier, yet at the same time we open ourselves up to hackers, crackers and various scams. Computers must be protected to avoid online security risks. This article shows how this can be done.
If you are new to the Internet, you should know that a majority of Work at Home opportunities on the web are useless and some are outright scams that will take your money and give nothing back but broken promises. It is getting more and more difficult to spot the frauds. Here are some solid tips to help you know the difference.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) which has jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not over Scotland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, is part of the criminal justice system which investigates and prosecutes complex fraud in addition to recovering illegally obtained assets.
To express it generally, Internet Fraud is any fraud scheme that uses the one or more components of the Internet. Websites, chat rooms, emails, message boards and even instant messaging facilities are some of the many components of the Internet used to conduct Internet fraud these days. Unfortunately, due to the speed at which the internet and all of its increasing capabilities are expanding it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the Internet scams out there.
Scams appear to be ruling the roost in the Internet today. Scammers are having a jolly ride and have made the internet their hunting grounds. It appears that the internet is fast becoming the killing field of the innocents.
If the offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Don't get sucked in by the hype. You certainly don't want to be the victim of a scam.
Maybe the reason you're interested in setting up a home business is because you've seen an ad that perked your interest or you were approached by a friend or colleague about a great home business money-making opportunity and those entrepreneurial juices started to flow.
 
Article Directory Home All Categories Internet And E-Business Internet Scams
 

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.

Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish German English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italiano Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Dutch Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish