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Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

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Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People talking like drilling a well in your backward is on par with typing in a different URL. So how about this, the upfront cost and effort of typing in a different URL is at least a few orders of magnitude easier than drilling a well.

> People talking like drilling a well in your backward is on par with typing in a different URL. So how about this, the upfront cost and effort of typing in a different URL is at least a few orders of magnitude easier than drilling a well. You talking like BUILDING A POWER PLANT is on par with drilling a well in your backward. So how about this, the upfront cost and effort of DRILLING A WELL is at least a few orders…

It's relatively simple and easy to change your default search engine and/or type in a different url, in fact, it quite literally costs you $0 (as in - it doesn't cost you any more to use ddg over google), so digging a well, and the further cost of routing your pipes to pull from that underground water is infinitely more expensive to do. This is the principle behind utility companies being regulated: it's insanely expensive to do the alternative of using that utility company. Now, Apple and Google (in terms of Android) might need to be considered some sort of public utility (eg. providing an app store) since it would cost competitors tens of billions of dollars to match the existing ecosystem, but Google Search is far from being considered a utility.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have multiple choices for water, dig a well, buy it from the local grocery store. Same for sewage because self composting toilets exist. Also electricity isn't a utility just use a stationary bike as a generator or buy solar panels... Just because you have multiple choices doesn't mean something is/isn't a utility. Its pretty arbitrary. They also aren't talking about Google products (most of which are completely…

That is a terrible argument. "Go sh*t in a chemical toiled" is not a reasonable alternative, the cost alone is ludicrous. Just have the decency and maturity to admit when you are wrong instead of arguing that you should "go dig a well" in the middle of the city. This is why we can't have reasonable conversations anymore.

I pretty sure that you completely missed the point of the comment. - Woosh.

He wasn't arguing that building your own toilet is a good option - just that it exists as an option.

And the fact of options merely existing, doesn't automatically exclude something from being recognized as a utility.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#413

Well, a public utility also doesn't have the right to do this: "You did something wrong, we won't tell you what it was, there's no chance of appeal, and you are now banned from receiving water service again, ever, for the rest of your life, no matter where you move. And don't try moving in with someone else who's still receiving service, because they'll get banned too."

The government decided that phone numbers are important enough to create regulations that allow phone number portability between carriers.

Email addresses need the same regulation. The arguments that lead to phone number portability apply to email addresses as well. And I would argue that email addresses are even more important than phone numbers at this point (it's the single key to all online accounts, most bills, documents, statements are emailed as PDFs, a lot of government services expect a working email address).

Email addresses have become critical and portability needs to become a requirement for all email services. There are technical issues, for example if someone cancels Gmail service, how can the @gmail.com address be moved elsewhere? It's not as simple as phone number portability. Maybe a regulation that any email service must provide forwarding service to another email address even if the service is no longer active? Or maybe a trusted mapping that exists outside any single service, kind of like a DNS for email addresses.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#414
Ah, yes — at best, politicians playing dumb, at worst politicians actually being that dumb.

Also, the railroad companies have been actively screwing with transportation in the US for over a century, so it's pretty rich of AG Yost to use them as an example.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#415
post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My elderly parents are unable to make the switch from Yahoo to Google. I’ve walked them through it multiple times. It’s just not possible for them. They don’t have the knowledge and skills. They are smart. Advanced degrees in STEM. Multiple languages. Doesn’t matter. I can’t imagine the transition from Google to DuckDuckGo/Firefox/ProtonMail being easier. Am I wrong about that?

What step were they unable to complete in the process of changing their browser's default search from Google to Yahoo? (With your walking them through it, I mean?)

They need to be able to get to Yahoo Mail from their home page and the search engine result page.

This is a hard requirement.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#416
Pretty hostile of Ohio. I feel like the governor and other state leaders are out of touch with tech. Don't know how this could help the state or Columbus attract tech. They should try to learn a lesson or two from Texas or Utah. Idiots running the state will continue the brain drain problem.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#417
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>""Also, what alternative is there for YouTube? there isn't a realistic competitor." Bittorrent." I should avoid Google's monopoly by becoming a criminal?

Insinuating that using Bittorrent is inherently tied to criminal activity is like suggesting the same for a person who uses a car.

He was talking about videos, that is bittorrent as an alternative to youtube. So how do you discover legal videos that interest you on bittorrent?

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#418

What a waste of resources to sue like that. They aren't going to win it.

They don't have to win it. They have to make Google think carefully about what boundaries exist for them, politically, and make sure that they don't cross them to the point that Ohio (or whoever) can win. And if that restrains Google's behavior, Ohio may have in fact won, even if they don't win the lawsuit.

If I was Google, I'd just say screw Ohio when considering future expansions. I'd view them as being business unfriendly.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#419
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't invalidate the concerns, but it makes you question their motivations.

What does it make you suspect their motivations are?

The obvious? More control over a perceived liberal-biased company from a republican controlled state.

Re: Ohio sues Google, seeks to declare the internet company a public utility

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're making a category error in your analogy. DuckDuckGo is much more like Google than "dig a well" is like municipal water.

Wells dug with modern equipment are a perfectly good alternative to municipal water - they can free one from over-regulated or poorly managed utilities. Even in the outskirts of California metros it's sometimes the only option without shelling out hundreds of thousands for extensions. DuckDuckGo, on the other hand, is just Google with bangs, an insignificant spec compared to the latter. Edit: DuckDuckGo US market sha…

Often, cities will not allow you to use your own well, insisting you move on to city water.
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