y'know that guy from nz
His name is Ludwig Wendzich and he doesn't usually speak in the third person. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand after emigrating from South Africa when he was seven years old.
He has a passion for art and design. He is currently a web designer stroke developer who has a particular interest in designing the user experience; mixing usability and accessibility with aesthetics to maximize efficiency and enjoyment.
Ben Gracewood explains the O-Zone issues very well here. Like him, I am only questioning the O-Zone now so that when it turns on it’s head and we are charged extra for particular services; Skype, Youtube, Stuff, Trademe etc. then we have a leg to stand on without being hypocrites.
Bits are bits are bits. Don’t treat our packets differently.
Duncan Blair (Head of Brand and Communications, Orcon) responds to my article on the O-Zone.We are commited to a free and open Internet. One of the greatest things about the Internet is the low barrier to entry, and the way that smart people with great ideas are able to get great cut through and constantly push the envelope of what is possible.
Been Gracewood, Gadget Guy from Breakfast, wrote a piece on Net Neutrality in NZ citing even more evidence that NZ no longer has neutral internet including TiVo and Vodafone MusicStation
I’ve often heard Orcon referred to as NZ’s Best Internet Service Provider, and they’ve even been named as NZ’s fastest Internet Service Provider. In fact, I often only hear good things about the local ISP, Orcon.
One thing that scares me about Orcon though is their O-Zone. A list of websites that you can access for free; traffic from these websites do not count towards your monthly cap. This worry of mine escalated when I read about their Summer of Youtube promotion. All traffic on the Orcon network to and from Youtube is free until the end of January 2010 (Terms and Conditions apply.)
The slippery slope I refer to leads to what I believe is the death of the internet, the end of net neutrality. When your ISP controls (or has a high influence) about what you access on the internet by charging you more for certain content.
Currently Orcon customers are encouraged to visit TVNZ instead of TV3, George FM instead of TheEdge, ZM, More FM or MaiFM, Biggie instead of the Mukuna Gig Guide and now, Youtube instead of Vimeo.
I am not okay with an internet where I can’t choose what content I want to watch, isn’t that the only good thing about the internet is that it is a level playing field? Everyone has equal chance to make it big because we don’t rely on the Big Guys to pick and choose what content we can consume? In a world without Net Neutrality we have the ISPs deciding what we can and can’t consume.
The O-Zone is about as nice as Vodafone’s On-network promotions and pricing. It’s really only nice when you agree with Orcon’s choice of “good content.”
Long live Net Neutrality, long live the internet.
