Viddling Around™

Been debating for a whlie on how to state this, but I’ve come to the belief that this explosion of web video, particularly consumer driven video, could be a positive force for Net Neutrality. If not in front of any legislative stupidity by Ted Stevens & friends, then perhaps by default in the marketplace in a post-legislation (or lack thereof) universe.

Consider for a moment the power behind both the consumption side, and potentially more important contribution side of YouTube and the clones. Consumers have obviously shown a strong demand for this kind of media and entertainment. However, with popularity oftens comes a target on one’s back. It’s easy to imagine YouTube, and perhaps one or two of the bigger clones, facing a scenario where the Telco’s come and try to extort additional revenue out of them, beyond the existing bandwidth expenses.

So what happens then? Does a YouTube go “off the air” because the level playing field is now gone? Or potentially even worse, does the service degrade because your friendly neighborhood BroadBand provider has de-prioritized YouTube for not paying the extortion fees? [to that end - the consumer video services may very well play the role of ‘canary in the coal mine‘ allowing us all to watch and see how the broadband providers will deal with this - and by extension, us].

Imagining again that YouTube’s usefulness is somehow degraded or outright eliminated by BB provider moves - I believe the consumer demands for this form of media will be a market force that seek out and promote alternatives that get around any BB provider gatekeeping. Of course, time will tell, and your mileage may vary, but consumers have spoken (or clicked, as the case may be). The YouTubes, Sharkles, Gubas, and others are satisfying a real demand - and woe be to the first BB provider to try and take that away to one degree or another.