AMEN! Anyone who isn't troubled by Comcast purchasing NBC isn't paying attention to how "competition" is working out. I live outside of DC and have the gigantic choice of Comcast or dial-up. After Comcast purchases NBC, I'm fully expecting NBC content to work MUCH better/faster and non-NBC content like Hulu to get downgraded. The telephone companies can't tell you who you can talk to and the ISPs should be treated the same way.
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Repercussions of court ruling against F.C.C. and Net Neutrality
- Thread starter kamk2k8
- Start date
AMEN! Anyone who isn't troubled by Comcast purchasing NBC isn't paying attention to how "competition" is working out. I live outside of DC and have the gigantic choice of Comcast or dial-up. After Comcast purchases NBC, I'm fully expecting NBC content to work MUCH better/faster and non-NBC content like Hulu to get downgraded. The telephone companies can't tell you who you can talk to and the ISPs should be treated the same way.
mrqs
Android Expert
i always forget the states don't have proper public health care
anyway, beside the fact that your arguments are continually illinformed to put it nicely, you're not even arguing anywhere near the topic - read momoceio's and handdog42's comments, maybe they get the point across more succesfully than my attempts
It truly does amaze how much power people will take out of their own hands (an elected government) and place it in the hands of the free market. Its normally on a false belief that market forces are as concrete as the laws of physics. Things are not going to simply "balance out" because of competition. As someone posted a few posts up look at how easily mergers happen and the competition is bought out. The only force standing up to that is the same government some of us keep trying to weaken. Its the FCC that stops media consolidation so that you don't have all of your information fed to you from a tiny group of people that are then able to control you.
Market forces work great when business are small to medium sized...not when they are global and have the money and power to mask what they are doing. And now people just blindly trust corporations because they are big.
Seriously folks there has to be balance. Some are so ready to oppose big government that they'll run us right into the hands of a corporate based oligarchy. They'll control what little government there would be and your access to information which is what this whole net neutrality thing is about. If you think for a minute that unrestrained corporations aren't going to eliminate competition and simply make pacts to divide up territories you are insane. And I guarantee that you won't be able to come up with one mechanism to prevent it that does not result in a form of government intervention.
Market forces work great when business are small to medium sized...not when they are global and have the money and power to mask what they are doing. And now people just blindly trust corporations because they are big.
Seriously folks there has to be balance. Some are so ready to oppose big government that they'll run us right into the hands of a corporate based oligarchy. They'll control what little government there would be and your access to information which is what this whole net neutrality thing is about. If you think for a minute that unrestrained corporations aren't going to eliminate competition and simply make pacts to divide up territories you are insane. And I guarantee that you won't be able to come up with one mechanism to prevent it that does not result in a form of government intervention.
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Yep because the truth is ill-informed
Our society that has not only accepted but actually encourages this ridiculous entitlement complex is obscene as best. WHY do you think these things are a RIGHT?
mrqs
Android Expert
why do you think this has anything to do with the topic?
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Better question how doesn't it ?
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
You guys are saying the fcc should step in and force isps to enact "net nuetrality" therefore saying you feel entitled to it, so you want the fcc to step in. When you feel your entitled to something, that is a right.
momoceio
Android Expert
Not quite, I never said I was entitled to Net Neutrality. I'm saying net neutrality is needed (not necessarily for selfish reasons) but for the good of the Internet and US citizens as a whole. Just because I think something should be done in no ways means I'm saying I'm entitled to it.
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Your contradicting yourself. What you just said, is saying hey, I want free money every year, but its not necessarily for selfish reasons. Its for the good of the us!
SamuraiBigEd
Under paid Sasquatch!
Actually, in the U.S. healthcare and education are rights. If you go to the emergency room and are ill or injured you CANNOT be turned away, regardless of income, ability to pay or insurance status.
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Yeah and the responsible people foot the bill. Entitlement complexes are a dangerous thing, always expanding, and consuming until it all collapses. Be careful for what you wish for.
SamuraiBigEd
Under paid Sasquatch!
OK, this is statement is ludicrous.
No one here has ever said that the internet is a right, but it is and should be treated just like any public utility, with proper regulation to keep the companies from dictating personal choice.
AT&T can't burst in on your phone call saying "Your talking to so-and-so, that will cost you extra" or "You are enjoying cleaner signal because company a is paying us more than company b". Show me how in the twisted world you envision that would not fall under the little known legal doctrine called The Fair Trade Practices Act! Yes, there is legal precedence here to protect consumers from companies who want to do exactly what the ISP's are doing now.
This is not something somebody just dreamed up, it is a response to what would be clear violations of law, and this is the reason the FCC is being nominated to regulate the ISP's.
In closing, if you offer a service, you offer that service to everyone or you have no ethics. I can't tell one of my new home customers they have to pay more because the builder wants his cut, especially since they can go online and see the prices right there, I eat the 10% as part of doing business. The ISP's are doing something somewhat similar to this, except they are the builder AND service provider, and they want more of your money.
Utilitarianism, the philosophy of dictatorships and other totalitarian states everywhere. Who cares about rights; it's all about the good of society as a whole. Of course, the people in power always get to define what the "good of society" is.
I'm paying to use their network. Nothing in my contract says that I get anything else except access to their network. They alone should have the right to decide how traffic flows on their assets.
Businesses can't threaten civil liberties. I am free to terminate my relationship with any business at any time. The government doesn't give me the same deal. If I don't pay my Surewest bill, they cut off my internet and TV. Sad, but tolerable. Life would go on. If they attempt to force me to continue their service, I have a number of remedies, including litigation and deadly force, if they attempt to enter my home without permission. If I don't pay my taxes, I go to jail. I have 0 remedies for that. When you give the government power to stick its nose in other people's business, you shouldn't be surprised to see it sticking its nose in your business later on. That's when you can kiss your civil liberties goodbye.
SamuraiBigEd
Under paid Sasquatch!
The internet is ,for lack of a better analogy, a utility. No single or group of companies owns the internet, they simply provide access. For them to control what content you can see or who gets preferential bandwidth for commercial purposes is censorship, plain and simple. Once that can of worms opens up, just wait and see how far they will take it, trust me you won't like it at all.
Oh well, I guess you can just choose to do without
However, others such as myself and my business partner are trying to make a living with the internet as one of our sources of income. If a mega-corp can squash competition from smaller businesses because they can afford to buy up bandwidth then that will be one of the final nails in the coffin of small business. Another scenario you don't want to see. If you really think these monster companies will continue with low prices once they have forced the little guys out then you do live in a fantasy world.
Oh well, I guess you can just choose to do without
However, others such as myself and my business partner are trying to make a living with the internet as one of our sources of income. If a mega-corp can squash competition from smaller businesses because they can afford to buy up bandwidth then that will be one of the final nails in the coffin of small business. Another scenario you don't want to see. If you really think these monster companies will continue with low prices once they have forced the little guys out then you do live in a fantasy world.
Caloy
Android Expert
We are straying away from the real point. Would you want any business controlling how you surf the net? Or at least controlling the bandwidth on where you surf the net? I don't think so. This is a major drawback and I hope it will be repealed. A business is a business, they don't care what we think, it's all about profit for them.
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Yeah but what I want and what is right are two different things.
momoceio
Android Expert
I hope after you re-read your post you realize how nonsensical it is. There is nothing there to grok.
momoceio
Android Expert
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
So you think it's right for the ISP to restrict bandwidth based on where you are surfing? If you think that's right, I disagree.
How is it not right? It is not a neccesity to live. It was built with their. Money, their manpower, so its their network. If you owned a business you would understand, but everyone is so poisoned by this entitlement complex, they think everyone owes them something when they don't.
Why do you think these companies owe this to you? What have you done to deserve this?
mrqs
Android Expert
you're acting as if we're saying we all deserve free internet access, which just isn't the case (tho' it could very well be in a few years, but that's a whole other topic...)
i get that you're looking out for the freedom of the companies, but the companies already have to play by certain rules imposed by the government; what's so bad about this particular rule ("don't censor the internet") ?
it's a poor argument that it's their money and they should be allowed to do what ever the hell they want
i get that you're looking out for the freedom of the companies, but the companies already have to play by certain rules imposed by the government; what's so bad about this particular rule ("don't censor the internet") ?
it's a poor argument that it's their money and they should be allowed to do what ever the hell they want