With the depressing defeat of the Net Neutrality bill before the House Telecom and Internet subcommittee yesterday, many Internet users are getting a bit nervous. Are we on the precipitous edge of one of those nefarious slippery slopes people are always talking about? Will common sense prevail? If it doesn’t, can we trust providers like Verizon and AT&T to not cripple the Internet?

Verizon is claiming that we can. In fact, they recently told Congress: “Our commitment to our customers, our commitment to [the U.S. Congress] is this: We will not block, impair, or degrade content, applications, or service.”Mark that word: commitment.

Now go read David Isenberg’s account of the last commitment Verizon made to him as a customer, when his phone line went out. They committed to be there within an 11 hour window to restore service. That commitment flew out the window as soon as it became inconvenient for Verizon to do so. We’ve all had experiences like this. How quickly do you think Verizon’s “commitment” to offer web surfers unimpaired Internet access will last when the executives decide that that’s inconvenient or just not profitable?

Verizon: “Trust us.” [Isen.blog]

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