
If net neutrality dies, will innovation and businesses leave the U.S.? - mxuribe
Sorry if the headline sounds like clickbait...but honestly, if (or when) net neutrality dies, does that create some sort of incentive for small businesses (which are based on cheap-ish net availability&#x2F;access) and start ups to begin looking for a better environment outside the U.S.?  If i were to create a start-up from scratch, would I have better luck, say, creating it in Canada or Berlin for example?  And, if the killing off of net neutrality does in fact create this sort of negative effect - small businesses leaving the nation in droves - what&#x27;s the point of start ups if incumbent giants have too strong a hold??  Or, am i just over-reacting?<p>Curious to hear thoughts - even if to only settle my pessimism.
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cannonedhamster
Net Neutrality repeal will have a long tail effect. It will cause the economy
to slow as people have less disposable income, it will cause the cost of
starting new sites to skyrocket as people choose plans that limit their
access. It will make paying municipal bills more expensive. Repealing Net
Neutrality is in effect a tax increase on American consumers and businesses,
no more no less. The only real question is how far it will move the needle and
realistically that depends on how expensive Comcast decides to make it. They
have a monopoly and they fully intend to exploit it as far as they can,
regardless of the detriment to the internet or consumers. Personally I hope
they go full evil right off the bat. Were the American consumer in any way
shape or form intelligent or in possession of a spine they wouldn't put up
with this, but as it is, we're feeling what it was like when Rome started to
decline.

Edit: typo

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GFischer
It won't. First of all, I think most are overestimating the effect - as
mentioned, many other countries don't have similar legislation.

It might make broadband more expensive, and it might make some Netflix-style
bandwidth-heavy startups more difficult to start.

But, the U.S. has almost a monopoly on Venture Capital, a huge concentration
of skilled labor in Silicon Valley, a huge internal market, relatively more
lenient regulation and many other advantages.

For most startups, those advantages will outweigh any inconveniences or
dangers the new playing field brings. I think it's akin to the danger from IP
or whatever... if you're fearing that a big telco will try to shake you down,
it means the startup is probably doing well (similar to when a startup is
threatened with IP litigation).

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notgoodenuff88
"First of all, I think most are overestimating the effect - as mentioned, many
other countries don't have similar legislation."

Because a USA apple is the same as an EU orange?

That is, do other rules they have make it such that they don't need this rule
specifically?

"But, the U.S. has almost a monopoly on Venture Capital, a huge concentration
of skilled labor in Silicon Valley, a huge internal market, relatively more
lenient regulation and many other advantages."

This relies on your first assertion being true: that little will change.

If bandwidth costs rise dramatically, are folks going to be keen to invest in
startups with shortened run-ways?

It's not one startup that's doing well, it's SV culture. It's doing far more
than the other sectors of the economy, thus the shake down of the entire
network by legacy players (GOP being more heavily funded by elder-statesmen if
you will, of Comcast, Koch bros...)

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misterbowfinger
I'm curious if Net Neutrality can be enforced at the State level. That way
each state can fight back, and the ones that decide not to will experience
enough of a difference that they'll do the same.

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stvnchn
I view what's happening with net neutrality as what happened to cable
television. When I was growing up, I only had access to local shows and then
the number of channels grew steadily. Then fast forward to today and you have
all theses different packages that you have to pay for in order to access
them. It's just another way for companies to continue making money off us.

I think they see how torrents and online streaming sites threaten their
revenue and that the Internet can do to them what it's done to advertising
(esp. for media).

I'm curious to see what forms of innovation and technology will come out this
to try and bypass this. Maybe nothing. Who knows though.

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sova
Internet globe is very connected, you can move your money anywhere you want,
net neutrality will just make it more costly to make business in the US, but
if we want US-based good-latency-servers then we will still have to pay for
local boxen no matter what the laws. I am not in support of artificial
bandwidth throttling and consider the internet to be a utility -- the
information stream. Regulate, yes, but create a VIP lane ... why on earth.
Once regulations get too privatized in the USA it won't make sense to base
your telecom out of the USA any longer.

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polkovnikov-ph
Well, we don't know. It might go wrong in many ways, and it's only up to ISPs
to figure out how much pressure they can put on users and business. As a rule
of thumb I'd expect business to suffer less, because they're more likely to go
in court and win, and thus more dangerous.

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SirLJ
Everyone is following the money, as long as the VC money are concentrated in
Silicon Valley, no one is leaving...

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joeborza
Yes... but there are plenty of safer homes like Ireland which might suit
innovative businesses better.

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neo4sure
I think the cable guys just awakened the sleeping giant. By making sure they
can tighten the screws on Silicon Valley they have spawned out a multitude of
startups that will topple them one day. The cable companies make money by
making something scarce. They will milk every penny of their investment and
give it back to the investors without much reinvesting it back to create
cheaper broadband for the masses. Silicon Valley’s whole business model is
based on cheap access to the internet that's why google Facebook etc is
investing so much to connect the third world. I believe they were hedging
against net neutrality dying someday. I can't imagine after winning the first
battle they took a timeout. The investments in the 3rd world internet may
ultimately lead to newer cheaper ways to connect the world. Cabel companies
clocks started to run out the day they attacked net neutrality. Let's see how
they survive in about 10 years’ time.

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mehrdada
No, net neutrality will leave (some/many?) other countries as well in some
form or another.

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miguelrochefort
No.

There was no Net Neutrality up until 2015.

Net Neutrality still allows ISPs to sell packages giving you access only to
specific websites.

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craftyguy
I wish it would, but I doubt it.

