Re: Net Neutrality and the Future of the Internet

by Eldorion Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:04 pm

halfwise wrote:exactly. You said the theory of competition due to de-regulation has not been borne out by history, and Dave explained why: monopolies (or something near them). There are assumptions behind capitalism, and contradictory as it sounds, the free market only works as it's supposed to when regulation ensures those assumptions are valid. Monopolies are not the free market.

Fair enough. I think we agree. Monopolies might be incompatible with a free market, but they are also a very common result of overly free markets.

by Eldorion Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:04 pm

David H wrote:I'm certainly not a lover of regulation for it's own sake.

I think of myself as an enlightened anarchist. I'm happy to try not having any rules at all, up until the point where the kiddies demonstrate that they can't play well together.

Then somebody needs to step in and enforce fair play. That's exactly how we ended up with anti-trust laws in the first place.

And I think we've reached that point again.

by bungobaggins Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:00 pm

http://blog.netflix.com/2014/03/internet-tolls-and-case-for-strong-net.html

by Eldorion Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:37 pm

I've really tried to see this from both sides, and I understand that the amount of data being transferred has risen drastically and the systems and business models in place were not designed with this level of traffic in mind. But I don't think the answer from ISPs should be to effectively hold certain sites and services hostage. I find myself more sympathetic towards those who argue that the Internet should be treated (and regulated) as a utility.

by Eldorion Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:45 pm

Ugh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/technology/fcc-new-net-neutrality-rules.html?hp&_r=1

The full article is pretty short, but basically the FCC was told that it couldn't treat the Internet as a utility, which is why the new regulations are more lax. So now a telecom companies can negotiate with large web sites to give them preferential treatment, making the sites that pay up load faster than other sites. This could have major implications, including rising prices for consumers from sites like Amazon or Netflix, as well as making it harder for new sites/companies to compete with larger ones that can eat the cost for preferential treatment.

by bungobaggins Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:49 pm

Eldorion wrote:Ugh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/technology/fcc-new-net-neutrality-rules.html?hp&_r=1

The full article is pretty short, but basically the FCC was told that it couldn't treat the Internet as a utility, which is why the new regulations are more lax. So now a telecom companies can negotiate with large web sites to give them preferential treatment, making the sites that pay up load faster than other sites. This could have major implications, including rising prices for consumers from sites like Amazon or Netflix, as well as making it harder for new sites/companies to compete with larger ones that can eat the cost for preferential treatment.

RIP Internet

Net Neutrality and the Future of the Internet - Page 2 What-is-net-neutrality-isp-package-diagram

by bungobaggins Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:18 am

http://www.cnet.com/news/obama-pledges-net-neutrality-laws-if-elected-president/

Huh, lel.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:27 am

In this case, the blame falls on the courts, not Obama. They are the ones who overruled the FCC's previous rules about net neutrality.

by RA Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:30 am

I wonder how ISPs can throttle my speeds since I use a VPN...
I remember hearing about the threats to Net Neutrality and possible plans for packages on certain sites a long while ago; I really hope this isn't the case especially since I don't use major search engines and I have zero interest in doing so.

by Eldorion Thu Apr 24, 2014 4:47 am

For now, all that will change is some (major) sites will load faster than the rest of the Internet, The ISPs are not supposed to punish certain types of trafffic for not paying, though I wouldn't be surprised if they decrease their normal speed for everyone as a result of this.

As for what the future holds, who knows.

by RA Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:56 am

It's really sad though that this happens; whenever institutions are given power, they will always, slowly but surely, erode that trust away over time to further their interests. The internet is not safe from it either it seems. That picture at the top of the page didn't even make me mad, just sad.

by RA Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:02 am

This is going to kill new start up sites and innovation. All the bogus copyright claims going on in Youtube - Will there ever be a direct competitor to it now? it was already highly unlikely before, but now it's nigh on impossible if this arbitrary barrier to entry is imposed. It's just something to "make the rich get richer" as it were - maybe not the best analogy Shrugging

by Pettytyrant101 Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:04 pm

Europe seems to be going in the opposite direction- they are looking to create EU wide rules protecting net impartiality- so looks like this sort of capitalism destroying the net will only happen to you UShobbits.
It is the American way after all- let the markets decide all. Mad

by bungobaggins Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:12 pm

Let the rich people decide all.

by RA Wed Apr 30, 2014 4:45 am

For those interested, there's a petition at WhiteHouse.gov to preserve Net Neutrality; not too sure how much of an impact it'll have, but it's there.

by bungobaggins Thu May 01, 2014 3:44 am

http://bgr.com/2014/04/30/google-netflix-fcc-net-neutrality/

by RA Thu May 01, 2014 5:02 am

Very good to read and it makes sense that Google and Netflix would be against this; I can only hope that Google spreads word of this to every corner of the world. cheers

by RA Sat May 03, 2014 5:15 am

by Pettytyrant101 Sat May 03, 2014 5:31 pm

Nice vid! Got to say, even though for now this is a US issue, greedy capitalist ideas tend to spread from there to other parts- so I am wholly opposed to this on principle and very much hoping the EU sticks to its current position and protects net neutrality in Europe in law.

by bungobaggins Mon May 05, 2014 4:50 pm

by Eldorion Mon May 05, 2014 5:07 pm

Heh.

...

by bungobaggins Mon May 05, 2014 6:04 pm

What's wrong Eldo??? Don't you like capitalism??!?!?!?!?!?! If the rich people get even more money that means we'll all be better off!!!!!!!!

Trollface

by David H Mon May 05, 2014 6:49 pm

I can't imagine it will affect my dial-up service much. 3k is 3k either way Mad

by RA Tue May 06, 2014 12:57 am

I thought this was neat and informative.

by RA Thu May 08, 2014 6:03 pm

I'm starting to wonder if that Wolf-PAC idea really is a good one with this Net Neutrality business and how obviously corrupt it was to have a cable lobbyist signing off on it all.