Australia did this. Ask any Australian what they think about the NBN, I doubt any will speak highly of it.
Nationalize the internet
61–70 of 71 posts
Re: Nationalize the internet
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
People seem to make proposals to increase government power and control while thinking optimistically of how the best possible government could use that power, rather than thinking about how a much worse government could abuse that power. Even when the current government is one you like, you should always think carefully about agreeing to give them more power, and consider what happens when (not if) that government be…
The alternative is that big corporations like Facebook and Google will control the internet, which seems way worse.
Concentrations of power are problematic no matter where they're concentrated. At least with those, you have options to avoid them or mitigate them, and they don't have the force of law behind them.
Re: Nationalize the internet
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
What if the government isn't interested in that?
Civil law suits.
That's going to be really hard when the court is stacked with those sympathetic to the conglomerate because it can buy unlimited political influence.
This is not the case when there's a multitude of smaller players that have a vested interest in maintaining a competitive marketplace, or where they're all boxed in by regulations so that investors don't get wild ideas about unlimited potential profits.
Re: Nationalize the internet
#64I don't think creating a government monopoly is the solution to the problem. I think there needs to be more competition rather than less.
I think a good first step would be to remove the current barriers to local municipalities setting up their own internet services. There are a lot of small rural communities that have really crappy internet service, because the giant companies are unwilling to invest in the infrastructure required, but they do everything in their power to prevent the local governments from setting up internet service for their communities.
Chattanooga is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by local government, including gigabit fiber internet at reasonable rates.
Re: Nationalize the internet
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that why America's private healthcare system costs more than any other country and yet we do not have any where near the top outcomes? What statistics are you cherry picking to make your argument?
How do you measure outcomes? The rich in Canada come to the States.
Measuring outcomes is a pretty standard flow and is aggregate. What rich people do is irrelevant as most people are not rich.
Re: Nationalize the internet
#66The problem with making the government larger (in terms of responsibilities and influence) is that the incentive to be corrupt grows. Then, when your government is large, the performance of your country starts depending on having a long interrupted sequence of perfect administrations, something that is very unlikely. The idea of government is to have an entity that represents the best interests of people, to preserve…
Being a bit more specific, I think the Internet should be regulated to prevent anti-consumer behavior, but not nationalized. Nationalize the Internet means that only the country can act as ISP.
Re: Nationalize the internet
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Governments inflate agency costs ad infinitum without increasing the QoS. This is not a law but based on statistics around the major countries.
Is that why America's private healthcare system costs more than any other country and yet we do not have any where near the top outcomes? What statistics are you cherry picking to make your argument?
You sound very pedantic. Please illustrate yourself and don't talk if you don't know https://data.worldbank.org/topic/public-sector?start=2010
Re: Nationalize the internet
#68No.
"Now observe the practical demonstration of the fact that without property rights, no other rights are possible. If censorship and the suppression of free speech ever get established in this country, they will have originated in [the FCC in] radio and television.
The Property Status of Airwaves: http://www.criminalgovernment.com/docs/aynrand.html
Re: Nationalize the internet
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that why America's private healthcare system costs more than any other country and yet we do not have any where near the top outcomes? What statistics are you cherry picking to make your argument?
You sound very pedantic. Please illustrate yourself and don't talk if you don't know https://data.worldbank.org/topic/public-sector?start=2010
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Re: Nationalize the internet
#70I genuinely struggle to understand proposals like this. The current political system is broken - the FCC is symptomatic of that. In what world does it seem like a good idea to give more power to that broken system?
It’s very similar to the question of whether it’s better for the government to provide healthcare or to get it from a private for-profit megacorp with an army of lobbyists. The government is by no means perfect, but at least their incentives are aligned with mine unlike a corporation with obligations to their shareholders.
The FCC was doing fine until Trump in my opinion. The telecom/cable/ISPs have been problematic for a long time due to natural monopolies and too little regulation (in my opinion) but the FCC’s actions have usually been attempts to fix those problems (when the industry lobbyists don’t win out)
If we are going to throw the FCC under the bus because it has taken a huge turn for the worse under Trump, then we’ll also end up saying the same thing about nearly every government department. DeVos is making a joke of our education department, science and environmental positions are filled with people who don’t believe in them, the State department has been shedding experienced diplomats as quickly as possible, etc.
It’s easy to blame government for these things (and more checks and balances, particularly on executive power, would certainly be welcome) but unregulated private schools and letting companies be stewards of the environment is much worse.