
ISPs and Tunnel Vision (2019) - cy6erlion
https://cy6erlion.keybase.pub//tunnel-vision.html
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dsr_
Once upon a time, we had a functioning FCC that was contemplating the
difference between content and infrastructure. The goal of an infrastructure
business is to provide the best service to end-users. The goal of a content
business is to get end-users to look at their stuff.

When you combine the two into one business, that business inevitably increases
profits by reducing the quality of all services that do not lead directly to
their own content.

Make it illegal for content businesses to own infrastructure businesses (and
vice versa) and the need for other market regulations drastically decrease.

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ralgozino
Man, this is the best explanation of net neutrality that I've read. Thank you.

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tenebrisalietum
Counterpoints:

\- Before the Internet was handed to the masses in the mid 90's, there was
still a lot of creativity. In the past 50 years we have numerous new
styles/genres of music, art, movies and other types of entertainment.

\- Technically oriented, educated people that tend to be outside of popular
social spheres were the ones that tended to understand the Internet the best,
use it, communicate with others of a like mind, and were there in the initial
rush in the 90's. I'll call these "Internet people". This is not most people.
The same people that can't tell the difference between Facebook and the
Internet still won't without zero ratings.

\- Small websites were always hard to discover unless they happened to be in
the right place at the right time or you were an Internet person and spent a
lot of time exploring and looking. Google helped small websites for a while,
but is now tuned to the normal user, not Internet people.

\- Mass manipulation of society through Internet services doesn't need zero
rating, it needs a self-feeding network effect and a site accessible enough to
non-Internet people. Facebook has achieved this and didn't need zero rating to
do it.

\- Non-Internet people with their inability to see the Internet as anything
other than television 2.0 + Facebook is causing ISPs to consider zero rating
as something to capture customers with. Remember when various groups in the
50's and 60's said TV was evil? They were right.

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icedchai
I miss the 90's. Too bad the thing that ultimately made the Internet
sustainable also ruined it: the masses.

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blakesterz
I'm not quite sure if this needs a [2019] in the title, but it's from November
of last year. I don't know where the cut off is for posts needing a [YEAR] tag
added, 5 months ago might not be long enough?

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dang
I think 5 months is long enough. Added.

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rcarmo
This has been going on in earnest for almost ten years now (I configured zero
rating for several services as far back as 2008, back when WAP was still a
thing).

In Europe it’s a staple of many prepaid mobile data plans. The big difference
now is that (some) telcos are actively doing it for OTT services (like
streaming).

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Arubis
Merely tangential, but I’d missed or forgotten that you can use Keybase as a
static hosting platform! Very cool.

