We're screwed. Court rules against net neutrality.

[CycloWizard]

This point is overstated, and somewhat misleading. As a libertarian I think the overuse of this simplistic point does damage to the integrity of libertarian rhetoric.

Intellectual property rights are created by government out of thin air in order to incentivize innovation. The invention of the patent and the copyright themselves have arguably done more to benefit humanity than any particular tangible invention. As creators and regulators of intellectual property rights, government has a very important role to play in all profitable innovation.

I disagree, but that's another thread entirely.

 

[CycloWizard]

Good post!

Since we know congress is made up of a bunch of idiots, it's highly unlikely they can craft any reasonable legislation that will fix this. The ruling, while correct in that it defines the scope of FCC authority narrowly, means from now on you're going to be beholden to whatever companies your ISP makes deals with. Comcast makes a deal with bing, and all of a sudden getting to google becomes really slow and bing traffic is quick. Want to watch TV online? You're going to have to pay the IPTV fee, and you can only do it if you watch hulu because your ISP has a deal with them. Youtube is going to be slow. etc etc etc etc etc.

Then I'll switch to an ISP that doesn't pull this crap. So will most other savvy users. I used to pay significantly more for Speakeasy DSL when I spent time online gaming because it was a boutique service that gave me a fast connection to the servers I used. I have no reason to expect that this ruling will prevent an equivalent boutique market in the future. Bandwidth caps have largely disappeared (as far as I can tell), and most other things which significantly limited the utility of internet connections will do the same simply because of the existence of competition. The company is ultimately beholden to its customers. If it does things its customers don't like, then its customers will find a provider that does.

 

[nonlnear]

I disagree, but that's another thread entirely.

Agreed it probably belongs in another thread, so I won't say anything more than a clarification:

When I said "government has a very important role to play in all profitable innovation," I only meant to emphasize the significance of the original act of creating the intellectual property right, not to say that I support creating a web of incentives, subsidies, government research initiatives, etc. I work in academia and yet I support the dismantling of the DoED, the NSF, and most of the other research granting bodies.

 

[Anubis]

Then I'll switch to an ISP that doesn't pull this crap. So will most other savvy users. I.

that only works if you have someone else to switch to. if you don't happen to live in a major urban area you don't, and even if you do here is a chance you don't

 

[Patranus]

What part of "if you do not like a product do not buy it" do people not understand?

Comcast has an obligation to ensure that their network works for the majority of their users, users who DO NOT USE P2P file sharing.

 

[Patranus]

that only works if you have someone else to switch to. if you don't happen to live in a major urban area you don't, and even if you do here is a chance you don't

That myth has been disproven time after time.

(It is just like the health care debate, people are simply too lazy to look for other options)

 

[Genx87]

Have we been fucked yet? There isnt a net neutrality law on the books.

 

[Genx87]

I was essentially told by a Charter employee that unless I upgrade my service I get no 'priority' with 1Mb service. 8-10 hours a day I'm lucky if I get 50 KB/s.

Words cannot adequately describe the SUCK that is Charter Commications.




--

That sucks, where do you live? Where I live Charter is selling me 16Mbps for 29.99\month but speakeasy is showing constant mid 20's.

 

[Anubis]

That myth has been disproven time after time.

(It is just like the health care debate, people are simply too lazy to look for other options)

its only a myth if you consider dialup an alternative to high speed cable

 

[Patranus]

its only a myth if you consider dialup an alternative to high speed cable

Satellite
DSL
Dial-Up
3G/4G

 

[Anubis]

sorry but sat is too expensive to be considered an alternative as well as slow and the rest are either too slow or simply not available

 

[theeedude]

Net Neutrality: Because nothing spurs growth and innovation like US government regulation.

You do know the government paid for the creation of the Internet, right?

 

[woolfe9999]

Separate and apart from the issue of FCC regulation, I wonder about an ISP who decides to discriminate as to various forms of content. I had thought that ISP's were considered "common carriers," like the phone company, which generally means they are immune from civil liability and criminal prosecution for things like defamation, obscenity, or incitement speech that is transmitted through their medium precisely because they act as a neutral pass through and do not in any way self-regulate or discriminate as to content that passes through their technology. It sounds like a dangerous thing for ISP's to start regulating their own content. Then again, I haven't studied the nuances of this area of law for awhile and I could be totally off base.

- wolf

 

[PokerGuy]

What part of "if you do not like a product do not buy it" do people not understand?

Comcast has an obligation to ensure that their network works for the majority of their users, users who DO NOT USE P2P file sharing.

Uh, my ISP "worked with" the city government and has exclusive cable rights in the area. There are no DSL providers in the area that offer high speed internet (> 768kbps). So no, I don't have the option of choosing to buy from a competitor, I don't have the option of "not buying the product". This is not free market competition, this is a localized monopoly.

 

[PokerGuy]

Satellite
DSL
Dial-Up
3G/4G

Wrong. I've looked. Satellite and dialup are not true alternatives, they are different kinds of service altogether. Sure, they get you access to the internet, but one has an inherent long lag making it unsuitable for live activities, the other is simply too slow. And no, there is no 3g/4g available in my area. So basically, there is a local monopoly on true broadband in the area. If the government is going to insist on providing these guys with a monopoly, then they need to be regulated like one. That's why my power company, water company etc are regulated as monopolies as well.

 

[her209]

3G/4G

Not an option.

Don't know about the WiMAX network, but 3G Internet connections are typically allotted only 5GB of bandwidth each month.

 

[piasabird]

FCC will probably come up with some kind of internet use tax.

 

[Patranus]

I love how people qualify alternatives with frivolous reasons why they do "not work" or are "too expensive".

 

[her209]

I love how people qualify alternatives with frivolous reasons why they do "not work" or are "too expensive".

So switch to those other alternatives and get back to us.

 

[Anubis]

I love how people qualify alternatives with frivolous reasons why they do "not work" or are "too expensive".

last time i called the DSL people here (within the last 6 months) they said "the lines are too old for us to offer service to you" they have been saying that for ~ 10 years BTW

i can see the DSL companys building from my house its like 200 yards away

i believe that qualifies as "does not work"

 

[PokerGuy]

I love how people qualify alternatives with frivolous reasons why they do "not work" or are "too expensive".

They can't have it both ways. If they want to have monopoly control over an area, they should be regulated. If they compete in a free market, then the market can control the features.

 

[werepossum]

Net Neutrality: Because nothing spurs growth and innovation like US government regulation.

LOL You are my new hero, wise one.

Question: If the FCC obtained the right to regulate the Internet and its providers to require content neutrality, would it not also have the ability to regulate content?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Satellite
DSL
Dial-Up
3G/4G

Satellite=latent and expensive
DSL=not available at all speeds in all areas. In fact, in my area anytime the clouds roll in the connection isn't stable...and no, i'm not conjuring this up.
Dial-up=STFU
3G/4G=ok for web surfing, but nobody likes to be booted from a tower mid transfer..

 

[feralkid]

I love how people qualify alternatives with frivolous reasons why they do "not work" or are "too expensive".

Get a clue.


PLEASE.

 

[Theb]

I guess I'll have to pay for a 4chan Gold account now.