Internet headed back to Dark Ages

By Donnell Alexander . Posted June 15, 2006.

Does anyone else remember in the (very) early days of online computing, when Prodigy, AOL and Compuserve were all services that couldn't talk to each other, or access major parts of what was the Internet back then? That's the model economist Trevor Roycroft uses to show what an Internet without Net Neutrality could be like once again, if telcos and cable companies are to have their way. Via Sascha Meinrath:

At one time firms like America Online, GEnie, Delphi, Prodigy, and Compuserve offered consumers proprietary data processing and data communication services over incompatible and noninterconnected networks. This approach to selling data services ultimately faded as the public Internet became available. Most of the firms that pursued the network differentiation business model no longer exist, and those that do survive have combined Internet access with their proprietary offerings.

Deanna Zandt is a contributing editor at AlterNet.

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