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Their networks have entered the realm of public utilities at this point.
That's what all the pro NN people say, and I wholeheartedly disagree.
Be careful what you wish for. Right now, the government doesn't tax internet access. As soon as there's a critical mass of people that believe what you do, they're going to tax the crap out of it. No thanks. They already get enough of our money.
The question is, do you want your source of information to be controlled by your ISP? Not all areas actually have choices in internet service, and so a liberal or conservative ISP could conceivably block an opposing viewpoint or slow it down so far as to effectively block it. Or several ISP's could get together to kill a competitor's website, etc.
Yeah, that's a problem. But I think the solution is more competition, not more regulation.
That assumes there are competitors which for 2/3rds of American cities there are not. There is only one high speed option while upwards of 90% only have two options. Would you want to live in a country where there were only two automakers or two stores for you to shop at? If you did would you want the government to help prevent anticompetitive behavior by the monopoly or duopoly?
Please show me where I said I hated competition. If we had more competition this wouldn't be a problem.
Does anyone have a link to some proposed legislation so we can debate the ACTUAL definition of NN as it pertains to the legal code? Until we see the text of the proposed law, there's really not much to discuss.
It's pretty vague as I've read it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by swagger
That said, I'm likely going to be against any form of regulation that tells PRIVATE network operators how they have to run THEIR networks.
That's my main problem with it. It sounds like a good thing at first, but like I said, very bad precedent.
If this is reasonable, the argument could also be made that Google is discriminating toward its paid advertisers vs natural search results. Once the government is involved in the decision making process...
If we had more competition this wouldn't be a problem.
I disagree, look at cell phone packages, overall all the major ones are generally a total rip off. I get unlimited txt, data, and 300 min for $25/mo, or same+ 1200min for $40, both with no contract, Virgin Mobile, piggy backs on Sprint towers. Same plans from major providers is at least x2 as expensive, and I know almost no one else that uses the plan I do.
Most carriers have now dropped any form of an affordable unlimited data for 3g/4g access. On my VM thumb modem, I used to get a full meg down and 1/4 up for $40/mo, unlimited data. Everyone changes their unlimited (read removes it) data, and suddenly I'm lucky to .5 down, and 1/8 up, limited to 2.5gb/mo; Service cancelled. It worked x2 as good, before they changed it. You used to be able to easily tether phones, or make them put up an ad-hoc network, most phones have had this removed in some fashion (at least to be able to do it easily). As tech as progressed here the last say 2 years, cell phones have got more restrictive, and more expensive at the same time. It's BS if you ask me.
Even with all the competition in cell phones, it's still largely a system designed to gouge the consumer. Last I checked ALL the major cell phone providers are basically printing money, they aint hurting.
I disagree, look at cell phone packages, overall all the major ones are generally a total rip off. I get unlimited txt, data, and 300 min for $25/mo, or same+ 1200min for $40, both with no contract, Virgin Mobile, piggy backs on Sprint towers. Same plans from major providers is at least x2 as expensive, and I know almost no one else that uses the plan I do.
Yeah, thanks to competition, MVNOs are starting to gain market share.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jabronie
Most carriers have now dropped any form of an affordable unlimited data for 3g/4g access. On my VM thumb modem, I used to get a full meg down and 1/4 up for $40/mo, unlimited data. Everyone changes their unlimited (read removes it) data, and suddenly I'm lucky to .5 down, and 1/8 up, limited to 2.5gb/mo; Service cancelled. It worked x2 as good, before they changed it. You used to be able to easily tether phones, or make them put up an ad-hoc network, most phones have had this removed in some fashion (at least to be able to do it easily). As tech as progressed here the last say 2 years, cell phones have got more restrictive, and more expensive at the same time. It's BS if you ask me.
A huge part of the reason for this is streaming media and other higher bandwidth demands. It caught up too fast and it was costing them too much. Cell phones have only gotten more restrictive due to technological advances that people were starting to take advantage of using phones. A few years ago they didn't have to restrict watching movies on your data plan - because you couldn't do that anyway.
If it was possible to offer unlimited data and tethering for a price like you pay now, explain to me why a company wouldn't do it? It makes no sense. They would get a ton of business. Just look at ClearWire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jabronie
Even with all the competition in cell phones, it's still largely a system designed to gouge the consumer. Last I checked ALL the major cell phone providers are basically printing money, they aint hurting.
That's just what happens when you have 3 or 4 major players. Cell phones and internet aren't inherently worse than any other industry. This is quickly ending too with all the MVNOs and new carriers coming out.
Does anyone have a link to some proposed legislation so we can debate the ACTUAL definition of NN as it pertains to the legal code? Until we see the text of the proposed law, there's really not much to discuss.
That said, I'm likely going to be against any form of regulation that tells PRIVATE network operators how they have to run THEIR networks.
There are two pieces of legislation in the current session of Congress concerning Net Neutrality:
H.AMDT.80, an amendment to H.R. 1 - "Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011" (Amendment #404), to prohibit the use of funds used to implement the Report and Order of the Federal Communications Commission relating to the matter of preserving the open Internet and broadband industry practices (FCC 10-201, adopted by the Commission on December 21, 2010. Passed on 02/17/2011 by the House 244 - 181 (Roll Call Vote #83); and
S. 74 - "Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011", introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell on 01/25/2011 and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
The initial problem I have with S. 74 is that the legislation is too broad. It prohibits interference of any kind by ISPs. Which would certainly increase the amount of SPAM and DoS attacks, since ISPs would also be prohibited from blocking malicious data packets.
A huge part of the reason for this is streaming media and other higher bandwidth demands. It caught up too fast and it was costing them too much. Cell phones have only gotten more restrictive due to technological advances that people were starting to take advantage of using phones. A few years ago they didn't have to restrict watching movies on your data plan - because you couldn't do that anyway.
If it was possible to offer unlimited data and tethering for a price like you pay now, explain to me why a company wouldn't do it? It makes no sense. They would get a ton of business. Just look at ClearWire..
Just like when all the cable ISP providers where screaming that torrents where going to kill their bandwidth and tried to get them stopped. It's all theatrical BS so they can make more $$.
They don't offer it, because enough people use their product in this fashion, (which has been possible for YEARS) they now have a market (which before was too small) they can r4pe for more $$; That's why. It has nothing to do with cost on their end, at least not to the point where it will drive them to be unprofitable.
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