Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

motherboard.vice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 108 posts

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#2

Post by bitsnbytes »

I like their fire to get this done.

however , the ISP market is a market hated by its cutomer base for decades. So you got to ask why hasnt this been done before at a reasonable scale or more often?

Didnt even google fiber run into epic hurdles due to monopolistic regulations setup by the telcom oligarch?

if Google fiber struggled how is a small startup going to be able to play?

I'm skeptical in the success of this , but i will be folowing and possibly get involved and hope they succeed.

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#4

Post by basicplus2 »

All major infrastructure such as roads, power, communications etc needs to be owned and run by government upon which is then a level playing field on which free enterprise can then compete.

When you have any major infrastructure essential to running a business in private hands you no longer have a democracy or free enterprise.

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#5

Post by da_n »

I just loaded this article on my mobile device. An ad on the website triggered with auto playing audio that stopped background media playback of my device. I class these type of ads as a type of vermin, and generally avoid any website that contains them. Why should I trust an organisation that chooses to run user hostile ads on their site line this to make a better internet?

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#6

Post by pmoriarty »

An Internet that is completely decentralized and independent of gatekeepers is the only long-term hope that I can see, and it's a very remote hope at that.

There are too many powerful, vested interests in controlling people and their communication to let that happen. The only reason the Internet was ever as free as it was that it slipped under the radar of those very interests and wasn't taken seriously enough at first. So its users had a decade or two of relative freedom that's now steadily being chipped away.

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#7

Post by amelius »

basicplus2 wrote: post #4

All major infrastructure such as roads, power, communications etc needs to be owned and run by government upon which is then a level playing field on which free enterprise can then compete. When you have any major infrastructure essential to running a business in private hands you no longer have a democracy or free enterprise.

And before anyone says that the government is probably too inefficient, consider that "own != build+maintain".

Re: We need internet that isn't owned by big telecom

#10

Post by vandweller »

joeyspn wrote: post #3

In 2019 SpaceX should start deploying their satellite constellation... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_satellite_constellation

Really interested to see how this plays out. Given the number of satellites needed to make this happen, and the number of companies launching similar initiatives, it seems low earth orbit real-estate is about to get pretty competitive. Anyone know if there is a limit on the number of satellites that can occupy LEO? SpaceX alone wants to launch around 5,000.
Post reply on HN