Whoever distributes ebooks distributes digital content. Digital content transmitted via internet pays a toll to physical telecommunications networks. This is why the destiny of the telecom industry, the digital content distribution industry and the publishing industry are intertwined.
Net Neutrality is one of the icons for defenders of freedom on the internet. The internet was born neutral with respect to the bytes that circulate through it (it doesn’t examine them, it sends them around divided into packets), but when the bytes related to a certain type of digital content multiply, and have a remarkable and differentiated value, how can we resist the temptation (some say the need) to regulate traffic, to discriminate in the payment of tolls, to take a peek at what is passing to see if it is possible to get hold of some of that circulating value?
And if I am simultaneously a telecom and a distributor of digital content, and perhaps also a producer of this content at the same time, how can I resist the temptation to facilitate the movement of my content more than that of my competitors?
This is why for some time the defence of Net Neutrality has been invoked. It keeps an eye on the telecoms. And look at the way Deutsche Telekom seems to break the taboo. Via the flat rate. Those who download more data are disadvantaged (they pay more, download slower). Which would not be news to us if we did not suspect (I’m not sure whether it’s only a suspicion or already an established reality) that if the user downloads content distributed by DT itself then it continues to apply the flat rate. The telco’s bytes travel rather better than those of its competitors. Bye Bye Net Neutrality.
