Open internet advocate Free Press has gone on the offensive and alleged that Apple and AT&T are major violators of net neutrality by colluding to control what applications can and cannot run on AT&T’s 3G network.
Free Press provides several instances of inconsistent policy to support their claim:
- SlingPlayer was forced to strip 3G support for their application to run strictly on WiFi as AT&T’s ToS refuses streaming video.
- Ben Kahle’s “Me So Holy” app was rejected for religious themes deemed potentially offensive in the world market.
- Despite SlingPlayer’s rejection, Apple and AT&T later allowed the MLB to offer a live streaming application that could use 3G.
There is considerable speculation regarding what Free Press alleges to be “odd and potentially nefarious” network decisions, but mobile consultant Ken Biba of Novarum says that AT&T’s network is clearly overloaded.
“I interpret AT&T’s actions as less about being closed and more about having not enough network capacity,” he said with a note that the iPhone 3GS’ new video functions would make AT&T’s network weaknesses even more apparent.
And now we turn the matter over to our readers: Do you think AT&T and Apple are violating net neutrality? Are their inconsistent decisions good for the mobile internet? What has motivated their decisions?
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