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When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

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Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#11

Post by azurelogic »

Lockyy wrote: post #4

I had always assumed that when I paid an ISP for an internet connection that payment was so that I could send and receive packets across their network. Clearly I was wrong.

This is exactly why I agree that this whole mess is a load of crap. Net neutrality should be a given. If I'm paying for a service, then it should be up to me how I use it, and the entity that I am paying should not have the right to arbitrarily alter my traffic. I mean, if you send a letter to someone popular, that doesn't give the USPS the right to delay your letter. The same should go for ISPs.

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#12

Post by eck »

kashkhan wrote: post #3

why should time warner own the last mile? It should be owned by the homeowners.

This concept is often referred to as "homes with tails". The idea is that if everyone controlled a line from their house to a central facility (kind of like a small meet-me room) then at those facilities there could be significant competition that would drive down prices.

http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2008/11/homes-with-ta...

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#13

Post by doesnt_know »

Ugh, is this even a question anywhere except in the US? The ISP should be paying for it because that is literally the service they are suppose to be providing, it's the reason consumers are giving them money.

In what other industry can you accept payment for a service and then try to make a legitimate claim that you then don't have to provide that service or maintain the infrastructure you are selling? It's fucking nuts.

When the so called "free market" fails and you have monopolies in place that are so anti-competitive and anti-consumer, then maybe it's time to go looking for another solution.

Perhaps this is the situation when it's time to look for some sort of state or government regulation. Or maybe it's the exact opposite. Perhaps these companies are in control of tight regulatory procedures that it prevents competition. I'm not overly familiar with the current system in place in the US, but whatever the current situation is, you really need to start demanding the exact opposite.

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#15

Post by azurelogic »

nknighthb wrote: post #9
azurelogic wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the homeowner owns the last mile, then they become responsible for maintenance, ensuring they comply with FCC and other regulations, and negotiating terms of interconnection. Obviously, that's out of reach of most of the population, so homeowners don't own the last mile.

Homeowners are responsible for maintenance of many things, including things subject to assorted laws and regulations. Indeed, they can be subjected to FCC enforcement action simply for turning on an common store-bought electrical device, such as a fan or TV.

Sure, but those things don't require digging up wires blocks away from your home. Or mounting up on a telephone pole to fix a downed line, as would be the case with my home.

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#16

Post by danjayh »

doesnt_know wrote: post #13

Ugh, is this even a question anywhere except in the US? The ISP should be paying for it because that is literally the service they are suppose to be providing, it's the reason consumers are giving them money. In what other industry can you accept payment for a service and then try to make a legitimate claim that you then don't have to provide that service or maintain the infrastructure you are selling? It's fucking n…

It's really even worse than that - not just the consumer is paying, but netflex, etc. also buy bandwidth from their ISP. Comcast is refusing to allow an adequate interconnection between the the content providers' ISPs to the comcast network unless they pay a ransom.

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#18

Post by azurelogic »

supercanuck wrote: post #7
azurelogic wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the homeowner owns the last mile, then they become responsible for maintenance, ensuring they comply with FCC and other regulations, and negotiating terms of interconnection. Obviously, that's out of reach of most of the population, so homeowners don't own the last mile.

I'm sure there are companies who would provide that service without requiring ownership

Yes, and they could even rent you the modem to use with the service! /sarcasm

That's basically an ISP. You pay someone to make sure you stay connected. Then they become corrupt and try to find new ways to make more money on the deal.

Re: When Everyone Wants To Watch 'House Of Cards,' Who Pays?

#20

Post by drawkbox »

"This is why there are fights right now between Netflix and Internet service providers. The fight comes down to this: Who's going to pay to keep the videos running smoothly? Will it be Netflix, which is sending all the data? Or companies like Time Warner, whose customers, like Rachel, are demanding it?"

Rachel pays Time Warner for her broadband connection to get her data from anywhere on the internet, as was sold to her by Time Warner which is the current day technology that is expected of broadband network access. Time Warner built their network upon receiving many tax breaks for their prime market position.

Rachel pays Netflix for the content that comes through the network.

The system is correctly setup except one minor flaw, if Time Warner doesn't want to pay for it then a competitor can't offer the same service or get the same funding and breaks they did to compete.

The broadband companies are lethargic dinosaurs, hopefully network access will go right over their heads (even if by Zuckerberg drones), when wires aren't needed we can release them.

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