I begin with my rule for government intervention. Never ask the government to step in and solve a problem unless you are 100% sure under no circumstances could the situation be made any worse. Because if it is possible they will do it.
A few interesting questions are brought up with this. I currently pay more for faster access with AT&T. Is that now not allowed? Do the TV providers now have to worry about issues with buffering since they can't prioritize their own paid for content? If the Superbowl begins to buffer and stops for 100s of thousands of people, is that the price we pay for all packets being equal? How long before the government starts all those wonderful taxes on the Internet like they do on our telephone lines now that this is a Telco utility?
Are the answers to the questions going to be better than the alleged problems that we're living with today?
As for getting the bare minimum from the providers, think about all the wonderful innovations we had from the 40's through the 80's with an over regulated telephone provider. I think they gave us the touchtone phone over the rotary phone and that's about it. After deregulation we had call waiting, three way calling, integrated voicemail, call forwarding, etc, etc.
Net Neutrality
The difference, I think, is that we didn't all start out with caller ID and call waiting, then had it taken away and charged more for it. I get the impression that is what was going to happen with the internet.Vince wrote:As for getting the bare minimum from the providers, think about all the wonderful innovations we had from the 40's through the 80's with an over regulated telephone provider. I think they gave us the touchtone phone over the rotary phone and that's about it. After deregulation we had call waiting, three way calling, integrated voicemail, call forwarding, etc, etc.
I do agree with the new taxes and fees, though.... apparently one of the new rules is that internet providers can now be tapped for fees to provide internet to rural areas, and shit. We're going to all be pitching in to wire Wyoming for the next 100 years.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
And more on innovation: In an ideal world, the free market would step in and protect consumers in place of the government having to do so. But we already know these ISPs have a government sanctioned monopoly, so it doesn't happen. There is no free market in most places, you have one choice for broadband, and they were flirting with the "Pay $20 more per month if you want the awesome Netflix package!" pricing.
Every problem could probably have been fixed if the government stopped protecting the monopolies, but the lobbyists are well entrenched on that score, so it'll never happen.
Edited By GORDON on 1424982044
Every problem could probably have been fixed if the government stopped protecting the monopolies, but the lobbyists are well entrenched on that score, so it'll never happen.
Edited By GORDON on 1424982044
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
- The biggest internet provider in the country is also voted the most hated business in the country, year after year.
Who?
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
The company that occasionally calls their customers "assholes" in monthly billing statements. The company which has a protected monopoly on internet service in my area. The company which has consistently jacked up its rates, year after year, with no increase in quality. The company that agrees to non-competition with other ISPs in the country on the off chance their territories cross.Leisher wrote:Who?- The biggest internet provider in the country is also voted the most hated business in the country, year after year.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
I really don't think we were headed there. No evidence of that at all. Quite the contrary, really. Video buffers less on the internet now than it did 2 or 3 years ago.GORDON wrote:The difference, I think, is that we didn't all start out with caller ID and call waiting, then had it taken away and charged more for it. I get the impression that is what was going to happen with the internet.
We were herded into thinking the evil corporations were going to take that away from us so that they could get the Gollums to get on board with the government take over of the Internet. All you have to do is look at the groups that were spending the money on getting this done. George Soros spent a shit ton on it.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
I hate that. If internet is the now and future "society," then it is fractured and extremist with no courtesy or self control at all.TheCatt wrote:I made a post on reddit about the regulations becoming a barrier to entry for new competitors, etc, etc... and I told I sounded like a crazy person.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Well, this is to protect us from those big evil corporations like Comcast and Google. Um... okay, maybe not..
They've turned the Internet into another crapitalist system.
Not to worry. You'll now only be part of the now and future society if the feds allow it. So I'm sure those without courtesy and self control will not be allowed to have web sites. Followed by those that have bad thought.
Edited By Vince on 1425053877
They've turned the Internet into another crapitalist system.
I hate that. If internet is the now and future "society," then it is fractured and extremist with no courtesy or self control at all.
Not to worry. You'll now only be part of the now and future society if the feds allow it. So I'm sure those without courtesy and self control will not be allowed to have web sites. Followed by those that have bad thought.
Edited By Vince on 1425053877
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
You're only part of society after you pay in your fifteen million merit points.GORDON wrote:I hate that. If internet is the now and future "society," then it is fractured and extremist with no courtesy or self control at all.TheCatt wrote:I made a post on reddit about the regulations becoming a barrier to entry for new competitors, etc, etc... and I told I sounded like a crazy person.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
So they're saying you can't be charged for "fast lanes" now. As I've explained earlier (I think in this thread) that's not what happened with Netflix and Comcast. So there's zero impact on that deal. On the other hand, I pay for a higher speed tier with AT&T. So according to their new rules this will apparently have to go away. So Am I going to get a slower speed and pay less. Or are the slowest subscribers going to get a faster speed and have to pay more? Or are they going to have to remove any speed caps and just let the network crash?
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren
The step would allow the FCC to regulate Internet service providers (ISPs) like public utilities, including ensuring that ISPs cannot block any Internet content. They would also be prohibited from creating so-called Internet fast-lanes for companies and websites willing to pay for faster delivery of their content.
From here.
I don't see how the carriers and the FCC will not be sued for offering tiered speeds to other customers but not them. Tiered speeds will either go away or be allowed for businesses when it's all said and done. In the end we will end up with this giving us only two things. More taxes and federal control of content. Well.... and slower connections than we'd otherwise have due to all the filtering and extra layers that'll be involved now). They will figure out everything else worked pretty well as was.
"... and then I was forced to walk the Trail of Tears." - Elizabeth Warren