To what extent are we comfortable mandating private companies (ISP's) to ensure equal access to all content providers? The tension between an ISP's choice to provide premium services to preferred customers and providers and each content provider's 1st Amendment interest in publishing speech that all subscribers can access was explored in this weeks reading.
On the one hand, it seems that a private company should be able to provide premium services to paying customers, whether it be the typical subscriber deciding to upgrade to a higher bandwidth, or a content provider paying more for their website to be accessed more easily. On the other, part of the great appeal of the web is the fact that everyone is able to publish easily accessible content.
The question raised by Frieden, which I think helps elucidate this issue, is to ask: to what extent are ISP's simply a service provider, and to what extent are they content providers whose decisions regarding private enterprise should be respected? Frieden's conclusion is persuasive, because he makes a pretty fair argument. ISPs should be considered one or the other, instead of being permitted to choose between the two to suit their own convenience.
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