Charging for emails?

I am concerned by news that we may well be forced to pay for sending emails under plans being developed by US telephone companies to create a 'two-tier' internet. This will destroy the openness and equality of the worldwide web.

The US telecommunications group AT&T is lobbying to allow the development of 'fast' and 'slow' internet services. All data moving around the net is now treated equally and moves at the same speed, whether it is a personal blog or the website of a multinational corporation. But US internet service providers argue that they should be allowed to charge customers to use a 'fast lane' giving their data priority. This will be likely to leave less well-off users in the 'slow lane' with an inferior service, as emails take longer to arrive and websites work more slowly.

The 'Save the Internet coalition', has already gathered more than a million signatures on a petition in defence of 'net neutrality' - the battle is now set to go to full Senate. Will Britain follow suit and what will it mean to users visiting US websites? We don't know but clearly there is an issue about ever increasing use of the internet - how can it be managed? But in a two-tier system I can see that independent voices and certain political groups are especially vulnerable. Costs could rocket to post and share video and audio clips, silencing bloggers and amplifying the big media companies. Political organising could be slowed by a handful of dominant internet providers who ask groups or candidates to pay a fee to join the "fast lane".