Tech industry to hold secret meeting to discuss future of open Internet

LONDON - Some of the biggest names in technology are holding a closed-doors meeting to discuss the future of open Internet - which has caused a public uproar amongst net neutrality supporters.

According to the BBC, the meeting follows the publication of a controversial plan by Google and Verizon that could allow net providers certain types of Internet traffic to be given priority over others.

The scheme was announced after the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) halted its own private sessions with Internet companies and broadband providers to thrash out a consensus on the thorny subject of net neutrality.

Some internet service providers have said that the rise in internet traffic is putting an ever growing burden on the infrastructure of the net and so, they should be able to charge more for heavy internet traffic or users or to carry traffic for bandwidth intensive services such as web video.

But critics said that the move could stifle innovation, while proponents argue that it would pave the way for a two tiered internet, where the ability to pay would determine what services people could access.

“This new effort will build on that work to arrive at something that can achieve both public and private sector support and strike the balance of encouraging continued innovation and investment in the Internet,” said the Council’s president Dean Garfield. (ANI)