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How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

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Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#61
I like this concept but think about how the user at the FCC will perceive this. When your internet is slow who do you blame?

1 - The site, i.e. "Yahoo must be getting a lot of traffic today."

2 - Your ISP. ie. "Comcast must be overloaded in my area right now."

3 - Your equipment. i.e. "Maybe I need to restart my wifi / PC"

And then, somewhere way down that list you maybe, just maybe think - "I wonder if there is an organized effort by a small group of developers to set up their sites in such a way that my particular IP here at the FCC is having its speed throttled."

I agree that we need to spread the word about what is at stake with Net Neutrality but I'm not sure if this is the best way.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#62

This doesn't seem like the best outlet to protest the FCC's stance on net neutrality. The people that are going to be affected most by this (if it does work) are going to be the rank and file at the FCC who have no decision making power and only hold a job there. The FCC has 2k employees and most of them don't even work in the relevant bureau that deals with net neutrality. When news outlets say the "FCC's plan for n…

> This doesn't seem like the best outlet to protest the FCC's stance on net neutrality Its not a protest of the FCC's stance on net neutrality, its a protest of a media rumor of the stance of the FCC chair in a proposal under discussion at the FCC that has been denied by the FCC chair. Literally no one at the FCC (well, except maybe the minority on the commission that were overtly opposed to net neutrality before the…

Well, yes and no. The FCC is considering a proposed rulemaking that would require ISPs to disclose their policies to consumers, ban blocking of legal content, and prohibit "commercially unreasonable" traffic discrimination. http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/openinternet.pdf

The specific regulations, of course, have not been drafted, but if these are the only three policies the FCC has in mind, it seems reasonable to infer that the ban on "commercially unreasonable" discrimination, implies that "commercially reasonable" discrimination is permissible. The devil, of course, is in the definition of ""commercially unreasonable." But it seems like there is good reason to worry that this would permit something like a fast lane and, thus, it seems like a good idea for those of us who think this is a bad idea to begin mobilizing.

That all said, I do think that throttling the entire FCC to dialup speeds is a stupid idea. As others have pointed out, this will harm many more people than are actually involved in the regulatory decision in any way, and is unlikely to make a difference in the thinking of the actual regulators in the face of the reams of actually well-thought-out comments they will be receiving from lawyers and internet policy experts.

It also ignores the fact that the "slow-lane," if it does come to exist, is very unlikely to be at anything like dialup speeds. Given the FCC's overall commitment to increased broadband penetration (which has been amply demonstrated, I think) I doubt that anyone at the FCC would be inclined to find such discrimination "commercially reasonable."

If you really want to have an impact, maybe you should band together and write a comment letter.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed and also this should be true for the pay of elected officials and corporate executives.

>and corporate executives Sure why not, all they did is take money from willing people called customers. While we're at it let's add... Basketball, baseball, football, hockey, and soccer players, golfers, Hollywood stars, and successful book authors like Steven King. These people are so greedy because they make millions a year! All while their viewers/readers/hot dog venders/editors make so much less. It's not fair.…

Because people NEVER complain about sports stars/actors/authors imbalance in compensation.

But why are we talking about this when there are kids starving in Africa

/sarcasm

Not everyone has to list everything that annoys them when they are talking about one of those things.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#64

I like this concept but think about how the user at the FCC will perceive this. When your internet is slow who do you blame? 1 - The site, i.e. "Yahoo must be getting a lot of traffic today." 2 - Your ISP. ie. "Comcast must be overloaded in my area right now." 3 - Your equipment. i.e. "Maybe I need to restart my wifi / PC" And then, somewhere way down that list you maybe, just maybe think - "I wonder if there is an o…

Write a bit of code that tells them why the website is slow.

Shouldn't be that difficult I get the same thing with cookies because i have a UK ip. Well not the throttling part but the banner part.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This doesn't seem like the best outlet to protest the FCC's stance on net neutrality Its not a protest of the FCC's stance on net neutrality, its a protest of a media rumor of the stance of the FCC chair in a proposal under discussion at the FCC that has been denied by the FCC chair. Literally no one at the FCC (well, except maybe the minority on the commission that were overtly opposed to net neutrality before the…

Well, yes and no. The FCC is considering a proposed rulemaking that would require ISPs to disclose their policies to consumers, ban blocking of legal content, and prohibit "commercially unreasonable" traffic discrimination. http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/openinternet.pdf The specific regulations, of course, have not been drafted, but if these are the only three policies the FCC has in mind, it seems reas…

> But it seems like there is good reason to worry that this would permit something like a fast lane

There might be reason to worry that it could, but to assume that it will and react as if that were an established fact rather than a possibility of concern is not reasonable. Before there is a rule in effect there will be a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which will say exactly what the rules would be and how the FCC intends to apply them, just as there was with the old Open Internet Order.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#66
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect most high ranking government officials in the US could make significantly more in the private sector so it's hard to claim there's a high scale of pay for politicians -- at least in the US.

Politicians don't get rich from their paycheck.

They also didn't get elected for knowing a bunch of regular folks.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#67
post #5

From the comments > Should a simple header/corner banner be injected also? This would be good, particularly if it was served from a connection without this throttling.

I'm actually against this idea, for the simple reason that if that page ends up being delivered via cache somewhere, I don't want them thinking "Well, it says I was throttled, but it actually wasn't that bad. I don't see what all the fuss is about."

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#68
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt they should be so worried. Studies show no link between executive pay and executive performance: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/02/focus-0

I think this is showing a lack of a link between executive pay and stock performance. It could be the case (though I don't know how you'd measure it) that executive performance improved with pay but just had no discernible impact on stock performance.

I don't think most executives do it for the money. Money is just a way of keeping score.

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#69
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect most high ranking government officials in the US could make significantly more in the private sector so it's hard to claim there's a high scale of pay for politicians -- at least in the US.

Politicians don't get rich from their paycheck.

Assuming you're not being snide; how do they get rich then (whilst in post)?

Re: How to throttle the FCC to dial up modem speeds

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the general idea. Show them what life will be like if you're on the internet slow lane in the hopes they'll wake up and realize what it really means. Especially since the branding has become that they really want to create a "fast lane" which actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea until you realize the reality is the exact opposite.

Show them what life will be like if you're on the internet slow lane in the hopes they'll wake up and realize what it really means. How do we get from "the kind of deal Netflix struck with Comcast will continue to be legal in the future" to "Comcast will start serving web sites to customers paying $50/month at dial-up speeds"? It's nonsense. Why have so many ostensibly smart people bought into it?

Because Netflix only struck a deal with Comcast because too little Netflix traffic could pass through Comcast. That doesn't hurt Comcast at all, because they have monopoly. It does hurt Netflix, because now they have a bunch of subscribers who can't effectively use their service. People who can't effectively use a service tend to stop paying for it.

So, given that these kinds of deals only happen when service is slow: What's the best way for Comcast to continue to be able to pull these fees in from large services? You're a smart person; I'm sure you can figure it out. Hint: Comcast has not exactly shown reluctance to participate in "traffic shaping" in the past.

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