FCC takes baby step towards net neutrality The US Federal Communications Commission announced on Wednesday that it would open up the topic of broadband regulation to public commentary — and from some of reactions to that mild step, you'd think that by doing so they were destroying America's economic future. The vote to open chairman Julius Genachowski's compromise " …
The PDF says there's instructions on how to reply at broadband.gov, but I can't find the first mention of it no matter how I look. Granted I'm kind of crap at Google, but I'm not *that* bad, and you'd think I'd be able to find some mention of it somewhere. Am I just hapless? Or are they just slow?
As an IT guy when I hear net neutrality I see it as networks linking together with one another without taking into consideration their commercial interest in the connections.
However I guess government has taken it upon themselves to change that to, "we control your information".
We have to revisit how we got to this point of the FCC continuing to do things like this.
First you have the stimulus for broadband. We all know what that was but we also know that when government gives you money for something they expect something in return even if what they gave you was complete crap.
Second you have large isps with lobbying power that as comcast has said "don't care" and that's right they don't have to care.
The real problem I have is un-regulated industry has proven time and time again to simply screw you. Where I live and im sure it's the same for alot of folks we have one electric company. The electric company was regulated by our local government but that's all changing and the government is being forced out of it.
Now that government is being forced out of it you would think things would be better no? Well no, for at least a year now the utility company has been airing commercials saying "rates are going to go up - go green". They've spent all this money telling us that the rates are going to go up and to to use less energy.
How free market is that? Your in the business of selling electricity and your telling people to use less. I guess that works just fine when your going to raise the rates to make up for it anyhow and now the government will have no control over what they charge.
I think if the FCC tried giving us a venezuelan style internet the good guys would just have to bring it all down. We know the US has been implementing cyberwarfare guys probably specifically for this but if the government was a shining example of being able to handle things we wouldn't be on this road to ruin to begin with.
If you have some time go back and read some old ICANN related discussions as to what an equitable domain name is and who can have them. It seems the internet has been somewhat controlled even before this topic hit the wire. "Non-profits" have been out there deciding what's equitable, like these non-profits know anything other then what the corporates who fund them tell them.
"Economy-wide, 65,404 jobs could be put in jeopardy in 2011, with the total economy-wide impact growing to 1,452,943 jobs lost by 2020."
Bearing in mind that this is a /marginal/ figure, not the absolute size of the industry, that's a truly massive estimate of how much they are expecting to be able to screw their customers for. Looks to me like this industry needs to sack its entire long-term planning department. The current lot are clearly total idiots, hell-bent on turning the ISP industry into the next music business.
Earth calling comms providers. You're business is transmitting data. Various mathematical and constitutional constraints mean that you will never be able to make a business out of snooping on those bits, so your only viable business model is to charge whatever it costs to move the bits.
The Administrative Procedures Act requires each Rulemaking be open to public comment. This does not mean comments will be listened to; comment is required even if Congress has put what it wants the FCC to do into a Bill made Law -- or made veiled and not so veiled threats to abolish the FCC, the BPL (PLC to you chaps) proceedings being an example of the latter process. But public comment there was, is and will be. Amen.
FWIW, Physics is no obstacle to US lawmakers.
... for the politicians we put into office. Most people seem to vote a straight party line or personalities and chrisma. Pay attention to who you elect people. Know what they have voted for and against in the past and make a vote-decision based on published facts and records.
For the good old USofA November is coming. If we as a country do not change things, then we as a country have what we want and all the cry babies need to just STFU.
The FCC is claiming power that has been repeatedly struck down by SCOTUS and other appellate courts since the AT&T breakup case. Either the FCC has the power to regulate ALL of the Internet, or it has no power to regulate anything. This also isn't an isolated piece despite the author's attempt to paint it as such. Furthermore he censored mention that all three of the approving members of the FCC were NOT approved by Congress, they were recess appointments by The Big 0, which makes those 74 Democrats objecting to the plan all that more important. This plan doesn't congressional support, let alone bipartisan support, and is farthest of all removed from broad based support from the American public. But that is par for the course for SF socialists.
How about splitting up all those telecom companies into more companies? Instead of allowing them to keep merging until their is only a hand full left. and you lose any competition in the market place.
Here I sit 5 miles outside the city limits of the capital of my state 'No DSL for you'. and no plans to ever provide it. But hey it is AT&T after all and they are not a monopoly,
Why just the other day my cousin was telling me that her company decided to provide her with a T1 line to her house. And low and behold, AT&T want $320.00 month for the line and $11,000 dollars for "special construction cost". She lives a couple of miles from me.
Yep, AT&T is all about customer service.
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