

The Net Neutrality Hysteria - blamonet
http://mobile.pcmag.com/?origref=#!/article/537ca3a9ec0691e7aa00001b-the-net-neutrality-hysteria

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altcognito
Dvorak is pretty awful and this article is no exception.

This always seems to be the question: Why hasn't Comcast screwed over it's
customers yet? The answer: They are. They're choking their bandwidth, they're
forcing their customers to pay twice to have their content delivered. They are
more interested in squeezing every single cent out of every single person that
wants to transfer a packet across their municipality sanctioned monopolies.
Dvorak has some gall asking a question like "Where has the harm been done?"

Look at customer satisfaction ratings. Look at how they cripple their
networks. Look at your cable bill!

Is the FCC the best option? No. But we've gone past the critical point. No
longer can you purchase a connection and expect to get full bandwidth at peak
times. No longer can you start a business and expect that your traffic will
reach the it's destination without interference. If someone has a better idea,
bring it forward. But tell me how they are going to get Comcast to accept it.

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shard972
> Is the FCC the best option? No. But we've gone past the critical point. No
> longer can you purchase a connection and expect to get full bandwidth at
> peak times.

I don't see why you should be able to expect this unless your paying extra.

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ryandvm
I've never understood the clamor for government regulated Internet.

Internet commerce (particularly in the United States) has flourished beyond
anyone's wildest dreams over the last few decades without the federal
government's intervention. Why exactly do we need a whole new set of laws to
save us from a problem we don't have?

Corporations have a very long history of manipulating the very agencies that
are supposed to regulate them...

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dangerlibrary
It's not a new set of laws. It's the same set of rules that have been imposed
on telephone companies and other utility providers for decades. It's a set of
rules that the FCC already has the legal authority to impose. The google-able
term is "common carrier".

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grimtrigger
Is that really an apt comparison? I assume the infrastructure for telephone
companies in entirely different than the infrastructure for ISPs. Namely: that
the variation in data that goes through phone companies is entirely different
than the type that goes through ISPs.

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dangerlibrary
You might not know it, but in asking me this question, you are asking me if I
think that ISPs are telecommunications services.

Yes, I think that ISPs are telecommunications services. Ask AT&T what kind of
spiky demand for phone bandwidth they see during and immediately after a
hurricane, or on Mother's Day.

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grimtrigger
I really wish we had a society/government that thinks about policy the way we
think about everything else. A new policy? Lets try it out in some small
locations and see what happens. But instead we have gigantic shifts in policy
enacted nationwide.

I don't really have an opinion on net neutrality and I'm very wary of anyone
who does.

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alttab
This is fairly balanced. A good read. What many people seem not to understand
is the government control of information. The free market is really the only
true way to handle this.

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DoctorMemory
No, this is a terrible piece. The argument of, "if these ISPs are evil why do
business with them?" makes me think he is not a respected name in the tech
industry but a trollish hack. As for the comment of ”the free market is the
only true way to handle this" it completely ignore the monopolistic aspect of
most US internet provider markets where the "choice" is a single large company
and if you are really lucky a small name company that leases the lines from
the large company. That isn't a free market. Pull your so called libertarian
head out of your a$$ and take a hard look at the way these corporations are
using your ideology to rob you of your freedom.

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grimtrigger
Ugh, what an ugly comment. Please don't do this on HN.

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DoctorMemory
You are right I apologize for the language I used. I am not apologizing for
saying it is a terrible article. All of the points he make assume that
consumers have a wide range of choice. Some people do, a large amount don't.
@massyset you are very privileged to live in a city with 6 large ISPs. Many
places I have lived have one cable and one DSL provider. The most has been 2
big name cable providers but they didn't cross each other's territory.

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alttab
I never said consumers have access to a free market. I'm saying access to a
free market would help solve the issue.

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cordite
As if a hospital with remote surgery would use a residential-grade connection.

The examples here seem to evoke emotion out of FUD.

