Originally Posted by
Xiahou
Look what Comcast did!
The FCC already overruled that.
Based on what philosophy and what principles? Why are you in favor of the practice of net neutrality, but dead set against the policy? Like ACIN said, it's as though you like being defended from foreign enemies, but don't want anybody making the armed forces a fact of policy. 'Cause that would be, you know, big government. Which is bad.
You also appear to be pivoting from point to point, moving on as quickly as possible as each position is disproved. "Show me an example of harm!" Examples given. "Those don't matter, 'cause net neutrality won in the end!" What about Canada? "That's Canada, which passed a law against net neutrality, so it can't posibly be relevant!" Say wha? "You don't get it!" Seriously, your position appears to be fixed, with the reasoning for the position scattered about like decorations.
Also, note that you love the series of tubes videos, while blithely walking past what Ted Stevens was arguing. His reasons for opposing net neutrality were about as coherent as your own.
Let's not forget that the playing field is not static, and that telcos will be working their little lobbyists to the bone in an attempt to recreate the Canadian system here. That should be blindingly obvious to anyone whose position is not an idée fixe.
In recent years, however, major telcos have pressured lawmakers to take a different viewpoint. As the Internet has assumed an ever-greater role in business and our daily lives, ISPs claim they have the right to adopt an active role in shaping the traffic that flows over their networks. They claim such interference will benefit network security, improve customer experience, and stimulate the free market. But if we want to see what the Internet would look like if the telcos get their way, we need look no further than the current situation on mobile networks -- and it's not a pretty picture. [...]
Mobile network providers have long maintained a higher level of control over their services than traditional ISPs do -- because they can. Only certain devices work on certain carriers' networks, and carriers routinely disable features on those devices if they don't like their implications. And it's all perfectly legal.
By comparison, Congress has taken an active hand in the regulation of terrestrial networks since the breakup of Ma Bell in the 1970s, when lawmakers sought to curtail monopolistic practices in the telecom sector. But existing regulations were designed mainly for voice calls. Unless Congress takes specific measures to limit the powers of ISPs soon, expect the telcos to move steadily toward a service model like the one the mobile carriers enjoy now.
ISPs have already demonstrated a willingness to limit network access for specific applications. Typically they claim they do it because the applications consume an inordinate amount of bandwidth, in violation of network usage policies. But last year, the FCC found that Comcast had engaged in widespread blocking of the BitTorrent protocol, even in cases where no network congestion was present. In the absence of specific guidance from Congress, such cases will only proliferate, and the FCC's authority to regulate them will continually be called into question.
Yup, it's the Comcast decision again, the one in favor of net neutrality, which, in a leap of dizzying illogic, you claim proves that net neutrality is unnecessary.
Re: Net Neutrality Paradigm Shift
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks