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FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

washingtonpost.com

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Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#61

Post by probably_wrong »

wtetzner wrote: post #38
spacefight wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. And certain companies are pushing hard to make them succeed these days. Mozilla is one of them.

I don't understand this comment. Can you explain?

By agreeing to incorporate DRM in the browser Mozilla is, according to that comment, agreeing to let the problem get worse.

One of the characteristics of cable TV is, precisely, that you don't get access to the content if you don't pay. DRM is one way of achieving this, and Mozilla in this case is accepting that without even a struggle.

If I understood the parent comment correctly, that is.

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#62

Post by natdempk »

twoodfin wrote: post #48
ColinDabritz wrote: post #20

"And he promised a series of measures to ensure the new paid prioritization practices are done fairly and don't harm consumers." I have a measure in mind that won't harm consumers. Don't allow ISPs to discriminate against users regarding their already paid for internet traffic based on what they request. (Gee that sounds a lot like net neutrality.) Anything less is open for abuse. Perhaps "Discrimination" is a good w…

Don't allow ISPs to discriminate against users regarding their already paid for internet traffic based on what they request. It's (relatively) cheap for Netflix or their CDN partners to connect their content-serving systems to a few dozen "meet me" rooms where it's "easy" for Comcast to hook as many wires up as necessary to receive the requested data into their network at an acceptable rate. That's all Netflix or the…

Basically the answer to this is yes. If Comcast spends all of this money to upgrade their network and the cost to the end user goes up for the better service, then there are really no problems here. That's basically how a market should work. That plan would actually encourage them to upgrade their networks over time and install things like fiber to meet the new demands of customers, instead of providing poor service like they do now.

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#64

Post by sliverstorm »

ColinDabritz wrote: post #20

"And he promised a series of measures to ensure the new paid prioritization practices are done fairly and don't harm consumers." I have a measure in mind that won't harm consumers. Don't allow ISPs to discriminate against users regarding their already paid for internet traffic based on what they request. (Gee that sounds a lot like net neutrality.) Anything less is open for abuse. Perhaps "Discrimination" is a good w…

it's also discrimination against users based on ... socioeconomic status.

That's a pretty shakey one. Are people who can't afford Porsches being discriminated against based on their socioeconomic status?

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#66

Post by rayiner »

hpaavola wrote: post #22

I don't get this whole net neautrality discussion that is going on in US (and maybe somewhere else, just haven't paid attention). Consumers pay based on speed of their connection. If ISP feels like the consumers are not paying enough, raise the prices. Service providers (not ISPs, but the ones who run servers that consumers connect to) pay based on speed of their connection. If the ISP feels like service providers ar…

> Consumers pay based on speed of their connection. If ISP feels like the consumers are not paying enough, raise the prices.

Imagine you build a road. Who benefits? Drivers, obviously. But also store owners, because customers can now get to their stores. It's equally legitimate to charge the driver, via tolls, or the stores they drive to (via special tax districts). If you charge only the driver, you tap into only part of the net positive value created by the road.

This basic premise applies to cables and other infrastructure as much as it does to roads.

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#68

Post by hgsigala »

altcognito wrote: post #7

I'm confused by this headline (and a bit by the proceeding). After watching the FCC hearing, it seemed like all of the people who were "for" open internet, and spoke of it from the consumer level (including Wheeler) voted for the proposal. The commissioners that said the FCC didn't have jurisdiction to regulate and to leave the market alone, voted against the proposal. Isn't it the case that if they had voted against…

This is a vote to receive comments on the proposal. IN 60 days the FCC will respond to comments and redraft a proposal. A final vote on final rules will come in about 120 days.

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#69

Post by Dylan16807 »

twoodfin wrote: post #48
ColinDabritz wrote: post #20

"And he promised a series of measures to ensure the new paid prioritization practices are done fairly and don't harm consumers." I have a measure in mind that won't harm consumers. Don't allow ISPs to discriminate against users regarding their already paid for internet traffic based on what they request. (Gee that sounds a lot like net neutrality.) Anything less is open for abuse. Perhaps "Discrimination" is a good w…

Don't allow ISPs to discriminate against users regarding their already paid for internet traffic based on what they request. It's (relatively) cheap for Netflix or their CDN partners to connect their content-serving systems to a few dozen "meet me" rooms where it's "easy" for Comcast to hook as many wires up as necessary to receive the requested data into their network at an acceptable rate. That's all Netflix or the…

Comcast's network is designed to deliver a certain amount of data per customer.

It can hit this number when the data is coming from distributed sources.

It should be able to hit this same number even if all the data was coming from 60 interlinks to netflix.

It's not about how fast the netflix access is in absolute terms, it's about whether it's throttled compared to other things.

Comcast is not obligated to speed up their entire network when their customers request more data from a provider, but they should be obligated to peer.

Re: FCC approves plan to consider paid priority on Internet

#70

Post by themoonbus »

berrypicker wrote: post #29
kirualex wrote: post #3

Yet another blow to Net-Neutrality...

I don't see a problem. You can switch ISP if your current one isn't net-neutral. Why should you force businesses to operate in certain way? They're not breaking any laws.

Why should you force business to operate in a certain way? Because, weirdly enough, the profit motive isn't always sufficient to make sure that business operate for the benefit of consumers, or more broadly, society.

Antitrust laws, environmental laws etc. all force businesses to "operate in a certain way". You can argue for more or less regulation, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone to argue for no regulation.

Also, the issue is many people don't have a choice between ISPs, or if they do, it's between two major ISPs. If a Time Warner / Comcast juggernaut implements a fast lane, do you think that Verizon or whoever else won't?

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