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FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

washingtonpost.com

351–360 of 674 posts

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#351

Is it time to go full decentralized peer-to-peer wireless mesh yet? I know it would be slow, but that's par for the course in most of the US anyway. Routing would be painful, but something like IPFS would encourage peers to cache content in order to ensure faster access to the content they want. It could be done if only the barrier to entry for normal folks was lower. I'm thinking a dedicated piece of hardware in a f…

Or just fix the policies.

Just so they can change again with the next administration?

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#352
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This dispute is way more nuanced than you're presenting. The article you posted picks a winner pretty early on bit actually presents the situation pretty well. Any company Netflix buys transit from ends up using up all the goodwill of settlement-free peering agreements, doesn't want to actually pay for the traffic, tries to route around problem, and then gets frustrated when Comcast doesn't let them.

We have already seen this: VZ was refusing to increase capacity to allow uncongested access to NetFlix (Netflix was willing to pay for the PNIs and the cost of the line cards to terminate those PNIs at VZ in addition to paying for their own gear). NetFlix started putting pre-roll into content sent to VZ customers to explain to them that it was VZ that was unwilling to do it. VZ threatened to sue. Netflix backed off a…

> Consumers do not give a flying f!ck about this fight

I couldn't disagree more. Sure, I don't care whether Netflix or Verizon wins, but I care deeply that there isn't a situation that raises the cost of competing against Netflix/Prime/Hulu to the point where it's impossible to enter the market. Netflix should be hard to compete against because they have better content, not because they have better access to internet subscribers.

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's unlikely popular and profitable services will be hindered by the lack of net neutrality. Huh? Did you forget already that both Verizon and Comcast throttled services like Netflix? They both argued they should get a cut if they were going to carry the traffic to their customers. Now they're getting exactly what they wanted. 1. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/veriz... 2. https://consumeris…

What is the actual reason they shouldn't? This is a highly politicized topic but it's hard to find rational discussion. If I built a network I would expect to be able to charge whatever I wanted to whomever I wanted in exchange for the use of my network. Is the answer that taxpayers helped fund the network so now feel they deserve not to pay twice? How much of the current internet infrastructure is paid for by taxpay…

Looking past the financing question, all (major) telecommunications networks are built via eminent domain, and as such must necessarily serve the public good.

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#354

Tweet in article: >On December 14, the FCC will vote on Chairman Pai's plan to repeal President Obama's heavy-handed Internet regulations and restore Internet freedom. I love how these laws are veiled with patriotic sentiments, e.g. "Internet Freedom". Just like the "Patriot Act", it is reasonable to assume anything with these sort of labels will likely be an encroachment on your freedoms. Also >"The job of the FCC i…

I read Wheeler's statement as sarcasm. He said the decision was "tragic" right before that line. It seems like he is implying that nobody likes cable companies, and now they're going to hate the similarities in internet service providers if this bill passes. Wheeler, despite being a former industry man, definitely pushed for the consumer agenda despite industry pressure.

Upvote -- the sarcasm comes through when this is put into context.

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Talk to your neighbors and offer to split the internet bill. This doesn't solve the long-term problem, but at least it hurts the local internet monopoly.

But what if someone in your neighbor's house likes to download torrent or visit sites that gets you into trouble. Wouldn't that be a huge responsibility?

"Sorry, someone cracked my password." Then kick the idiot off your wifi, just like you would deal with a bad house guest.

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#356
post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't it the same though? Netflix (and other sites) will be more or less forced to pass those charges on to the consumers.

Yes, which is immediately a problem when Netflix is competing with the cable company or one of its subsidiaries (which is the case) that don't have to pay those costs (or as much). It allows the cable company to effectively tax the competition.

This is one of the biggest issues I have with it.

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read Wheeler's statement as sarcasm. He said the decision was "tragic" right before that line. It seems like he is implying that nobody likes cable companies, and now they're going to hate the similarities in internet service providers if this bill passes. Wheeler, despite being a former industry man, definitely pushed for the consumer agenda despite industry pressure.

Upvote -- the sarcasm comes through when this is put into context.

[deleted]

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#358

What I don't fully understand is why isn't larger tech companies like Facebook, Netflix, Google, Twitter, Amazon, etc. making a big fuss about this on their sites to warn their users and help fight against it? Are they not as worried about this? Does it actual benefit them in some ways cause they can box out smaller competition since they can afford to pay ISP's or something? For example, if Facebook saw this as a re…

Probably because they've made the realization that while it will cost them more money to operate, they actually can afford to pay off the ISPs while any fledgling competition that bubbles up doesn't stand a chance of doing so.

Its called Regulatory Capture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

Re: FCC plan would give Internet providers power to choose the sites customers see

#360
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