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Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

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Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#61

Post by mariojv »

falcolas wrote: post #55
manofmanysmiles wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This type of comment implies you think the world is static. I'm not saying that this good, but what makes you so sure market and social forces won't produce a better model? To me this is just a temporary setback, and a reminder why we need to focus on developing new technologies, like a "truly decentralized internet", blockchain, cryptography, and more. It almost feels like a the death throws of a monster that will d…

None of those technologies matter when your access to them is blocked. When it comes to access, you have copper, fiber, and radio. The latter is not really competitive to the first two, both of which require significant up-front investments with no promise of revenue to pay those investments back. Remember Google Fiber? Where's that now? Shut down with a marketing-speak comment that says "its purpose was fulfilled."

> Remember Google Fiber? Where's that now? Shut down with a marketing-speak comment that says "its purpose was fulfilled."

Is this true? They just started offering services in my city a few months ago. I can't get it yet, but it seems like they're expanding at least in some locales.

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#62

Post by MrLeap »

murph-almighty wrote: post #9
pascalxus wrote: post #5

This the end of innovation in online videos: "When companies like Netflix, which today closed with a market cap of almost $158 billion, can’t necessarily get enough negotiating power to ensure that consumers have direct access to them, no startup can ever hope to compete. America may believe in its entrepreneurs, but its competition laws have done nothing to keep the terrain open for them. Those implications are just…

All books are now sold with a small display attached that gives you a URL. The book is magnetically sealed until you take out your phone, navigate to that URL, and watch an ad.

My angle grinder says hi.

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#64

Post by spruciefic399 »

allthenews wrote: post #54

I don't understand why this is turning into such a massive panic. The internet wasn't cut up into throttled tiers pre-NN, and who exactly is going to be paying for internet if it doesn't deliver what they want? Why do people have so little faith in the market? Why is the answer MORE regulation, when regulation and regulatory capture are what got us into this monopolized mess in the first place? What about the fact th…

1. Monopolization has increased in markets in general (see: ATT-Time Warner merger).

2. ISPs have realized what they can do with their increased monopolies, and have started developing technical strategies for doing so.

3. Regardless of this, these companies are getting certain things from the public, such as right-of-way. They act like they owe nothing to the public, which is a lie.

It's a logical mistake to assume that behavior of ISPs in the past is what they will do in the future.

I'll start respecting the arguments against net neutrality when:

1. Private citizens and government entities are allowed to charge arbitrary rates for ISP lines to go over their property.

2. ISPs are legally responsible for the content of any and all packets going over their infrastructure.

3. All legal challenges / obstacles to public / municipal ISPs are dropped and eliminated.

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#65

Post by sjm-lbm »

twtw wrote: post #18
telchar wrote: post #10

Or better yet, we can work toward a future (no later than 2021, I hope) when net neutrality can be brought back into force just as it was from 2015-2017 by FCC action or perhaps with more staying power via legislative action. Ground taken once can be taken twice. If we resign ourselves to the current legal landscape we hand a victory to these corrupt players. That said I'm sure the tech giants will want to hedge thei…

A net neutrality bill already passed the senate. With a new house (and speaker) it could potentially go through.

We're going to need a new president before such a bill could be signed, but it's good news that political will seems to be moving (ever so slightly) toward net neutrality.

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#66

Post by planteen »

gazarsgo wrote: post #42

don't worry, SpaceX Starlink will kneecap every other ISP.

I brought this up a while back on HN. It looks like in the most optimistic case you are looking at 20 Gbps per spacecraft and 200 spacecraft over the continental US for Star Link. So you are looking at 4 Tbps capacity for the entire country. What sort of capacity does the US have right now? It seems like 4 Tbps is very far off, like the level of a single large city. Heck, you can get 10 Gbps service to your home in Chattanooga, TN.

Update: Cisco predicts 847 Tbps in 2021 and "busy" up to 5.0 Pbps globally. US looks like 242 Tbps with "busy" up to 1.7 Pbps. So if Star Link has 200 space craft over the US by 2021, it could handle about 1.5% of the US non-peak usage.

https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/solutions/service-provider/v...

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#67

Post by aylmao »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #27
sethhochberg wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a hard time getting excited about a world where every new business has to be fully vertically-integrated because their competitors are all being dicks to one another. Healthy competition only amongst those who have the resources to compete in all markets at once...

It's inevitable with the efficiencies brought by technology. You need fewer and fewer middlemen, and so you end up going vertical.

If anything this makes things more inefficient, because I bet a lot of core infrastructure will have to be laid out many times over.

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#68

Post by httpz »

What we really need is preventing existing ISPs from having a regional monopoly. In order to do that, the congress has to change the law so the ISPs have to share the cables they own in a building like phone lines, or someone has to make a technological break through that solves the last mile problem. Also, this is a US specific problem that doesn't exist in places like S.Korea or Japan.

Here's a NPR PlanetMoney episode on it. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/04/04/299060527/epis...

Re: Netflix and Alphabet will need to become ISPs, fast

#70

Post by pascalxus »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #13
pascalxus wrote: post #5

This the end of innovation in online videos: "When companies like Netflix, which today closed with a market cap of almost $158 billion, can’t necessarily get enough negotiating power to ensure that consumers have direct access to them, no startup can ever hope to compete. America may believe in its entrepreneurs, but its competition laws have done nothing to keep the terrain open for them. Those implications are just…

yeah. yet, the consumer side demand for such content is well established now. i can't help but wonder what kinds of workarounds consumers will invent (against all regulations and attempts to defeat them) to pass that content around. consumers might embrace Netflix's old-school disk-mailing tactics. or maybe Netflix will re-embrace that. or some sort of illegal low power local extended WiFi networks? dunno.

actually that's interesting. DVDs may make a comeback.

A whole new industry may open up: Taking previously online content (like YouTube videos, perhaps a set of related ones) and compiling them into DVDs that you can binge watch.

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