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FTC gives OK for ISP's to screw everyone long and hard.
All in this article, basically bad news for everyone, unless, of course, Google does something awesome with all that fiber they bought.
The internets die.
The internets die.
Comments
ISPs that block/degrade their customers web access will lose customers. If this were to happen some smart startup would appear offering broadband with no blocking/degradation of service and they would kick ass in the market.
If a startup was able to enter the market, they would be able to get all the tech people as customers. However, this is almost impossible because the telcos own all the infrastructure. You would need a shit-ton of starting capital to even try something like that.
Imagine if the roads were owned by Ford. Now imagine that the speed limit for Ford cars is set to 100mph and the speed limit for all other cars is set 50mph. Net neutrality means that if you own the road, you have to let all vehicles travel on that road under the same terms. Telcos are trying to utilize their control of the networks to artificially give their services a competitive advantage. This is the same as when Microsoft bundled IE. This is the same as how mobile phone service providers lock phones to only allow their software. It is unfair competition that hinders progress.
As long as there still exists an oligopoly in the US telco market, the telcos must not be trusted and heavily regulated to insure they do not do great evils. When we live in a world where you can choose absolutely any service provider no matter where you live, then we will no longer need to regulate these people.
Choice One is one of the great companies that got into the game after the Telecom act of 1996. I say great because they actually invested in infrastructure and purchased switches and other equipment. Unlike the many companies that just resold existing at&t lines.
Covad also bought a shit-ton of hardware and uses it to offer DSL services.
The Telecoms may own the backbone of the Internet but they do not own the majority of the Internet. Your home computer is (technically) part of the Internet.
In regards to QOS. All the companies rooting for NN also wanted QOS, they just did not want to pay for it.
The problem is that the FTC is right . . . our country is too big and too rural to encourage the kind of legislation they're trying to get through. It'll all work itself out i think. There's no stopping the internet now. [If there is then I'll be moving to Japan]
at&t; offers all of the services I use but I only use them if it makes sense to me. I could get dish Network through them (and pay less) but I prefer DirecTV. I could use Cingular/at&t; wireless for my cell phone but their coverage sucks where I live.
Would I reccomend using at&t; for DSL? Not automaticaly, I'd tell you to do your research and pick what works best for you. If all you do is check email then you can get by with just dial-up. I only have the 1.5 service even though I can get up to 6MB. I just don't need that much bandwidth so why pay extra for it?