


Limitations to new rules won't please everyone, though



I.  What's Inside





II. Tiered Usage Fees?





IV.  Mobile Limitations


V. Could this "Gift" Get Returned?





Comments     Threshold


By Shinei on 12/26/2010 5:49:48 AM , Rating: 2
"The idea is to prevent problems from occurring to begin with. Without some sort of intervention, ISPs can just throttle, block, and slow down whatever data they want to."

The problem is that exclusive domain allows ISPs to behave non-competitively, without legal repercussions. The FCC's net neutrality stance is just a band-aid for a much larger issue that they introduced years ago, giving ISPs essentially infinite authority over any region they decide to provide 'service' to and disallowing competition in those areas.
Also, ISPs can currently throttle, block, and slow down whatever data they want to; if they're all evil criminals waiting to take your internet away while twirling their mustaches, why haven't they done it already?

"I'm not saying it should be the FCC, but someone needs to regulate this and make sure things are geared towards the consumer, not the telecoms."

Companies that cheat customers don't stay in business very long in a proper competitive environment. Suppose Comcast decided to throttle the internet and create a sheltered garden for its users instead.
If Comcast has no competition (current situation), users are forced to suck it up or rely on FCC legislative beatdowns (the extension of government power never being released when its time is up).
If Comcast is forced to contend with competitors, users can tell Comcast to go die and use a company that doesn't throttle or mutilate the internet. The FCC doesn't need to be involved at all, since it's not their job to legislate what private companies do and don't do with the services they provide to customers.

By Lugaidster on 12/26/2010 10:27:59 AM , Rating: 1
The problem is that companies already throttle, and, according to the article, have won suits further giving throttling strength. For competition to exist you need high mobility of factors and low market entry barriers. Neither exist in the market for obvious reasons.

Comcasts aren't in the business to take away my internet, they are there to charge me big sums of money just to check my email. So the whole "if they're all evil criminals waiting to take your internet away while twirling their mustaches, why haven't they done it already?" doesn't apply.

You can't force competition when there are no competitors. And it's pretty dificult to enter the market so I don't see new competitors in the horizon. In the end, you'd have to be a moron or work for any of those companies to be agaisnt the concept of net neutrality. Implementation is a whole 'nother deal though, but it can be improved upon.

Besides, companies that cheat consumers have stayed in business for a pretty long time, and will stay there as long as they have piles of cash and good lawyers. A small company might not be able to sustain bad press, but Comcast can't get much worse in that regard and it still exists.

By LilBambi on 12/26/2010 12:46:06 PM , Rating: 1
How long did AT&T keep us all shackled before the government finally stepped in to break them up and make it so we could actually buy our own phones, faxes, allow more than one phone and pay for each additional, and prevent their highly inflated pricing structures?

The corps in this country do not learn their lessons well at all.

By Kurz on 12/26/2010 1:41:03 PM , Rating: 2
And how long did government help AT&T keep their monopoly?
Research, learn and understand that government isn't here to help you.


“That government is best which governs least.”

Thomas Paine

By Lugaidster on 12/26/2010 2:33:50 PM , Rating: 2
"And how long did government help AT&T keep their monopoly?" The government changes because the people that constitutes it changes. But that really doesn't matter. A market needs regulation when it doesn't behave like a free market, and guess what, the internet providing market doesn't behave like a free market!

I want my ISP to stay neutral, whether I'm watching videos or reading my email I don't want to get throttled, simple as that. If you like to get screwed by ISPs, that's your cup of tea, not mine.

By Kurz on 12/27/2010 11:30:29 AM , Rating: 2
I must restate... The government (Local) caused the problem in the first place. So undo the regulation, Deals, contracts that the government made with the ISP's.

