

Why I am AGAINST Net Neutrality - jsonmez
http://simpleprogrammer.com/2014/07/21/net-neutrality/

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bgun
TL;DR direct quote: "I didn’t bust my ass working extra hours, saving money
and living frugally so I could create cheap housing for the poor, I did it to
make money. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m a heartless bastard—I give away 10
percent of my income to charity—but, no one should be able to force me to do
it. If internet providers want to be dicks, so be it—it’s their right."

~~~
p3aches
I'm having a difficult time seeing how this part of the post relates to ISP
regulations. Just because you worked hard to get to where you are today
doesn't mean that you are excused from certain obligations. What if you
decided that under certain market conditions, not fixing broken roofs or
heating systems in your properties would be more profitable? I'm sure everyone
can agree that allowing property owners to be "dicks" in this case would be a
terrible idea.

Overall my biggest issue with your post is the framing around personal
freedom. What we really need to talk about is obligations. As a Comcast
customer (not by choice) I get billed for a certain level of service. The
problem is that I rarely get what I'm getting charged for.

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newman8r
Internet service providers are in a unique position of providing a service
that many people are beginning to regard as a basic human right. We give them
the right to build and maintain networks in our communities - they have a
responsibility to us too.

~~~
jsonmez
No they don't. You can create your own ISP if you don't like it. And internet
is not a basic human right.

~~~
fsk
Actually, you can't create your own ISP. In most US cities, the phone
corporation and cable corporation are given a monopoly/duopoly over the "last
mile" to your home. It's illegal for someone else to lay down cables and start
a competing ISP business.

That's the real problem with network neutrality. If the big ISPs want to stop
supporting network neutrality, saying "we own the cables", then the law that
gives them a monopoly should also be repealed.

The "free market" can't handle the problem when the government gives someone
an explicit monopoly. If the ISPs were a legitimate free market business, it
would be fine.

