Is the Exaflood Coming? - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

An interesting controversy; read the full post 

YouTube and its bit-hungry brethren of video, music and social-networking Web sites are surely consuming more of the Internet’s bandwidth. But are we facing a capacity crunch that will soon clog the global network, as it is overwhelmed by what some warn is a coming “exaflood” of demand?

This is far more than a technical question. Regulatory and tax policy for the telecommunications industry hinges on the answer. If the threat of an exaflood is imminent, the argument for tax incentives to stimulate investment becomes stronger. So does the hand of the telecommunications lobby in its opposition to so-called Net neutrality (all bit users treated equally). The telecom carriers claim that the corporate bit-hogs like Google and its subsidiary YouTube should pay more because they use so much network capacity.

Is the Exaflood Coming? - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog