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F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

nytimes.com

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Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#81

Post by untog »

djrogers wrote: post #13

Setting aside the ultimate politics and ramifications of this, it is interesting (and kind of scary) to watch the fight between a non-elected bureaucracy and our elected house of representatives to regulate the internet. Congress seems to be completely incapable of doing more than grandstanding, while the bureaucrats may wind up dramatically increasing their own power with a single stroke of their unelected pens. It'…

I kind of like that they are unelected. At least that means they don't rely on political donations for their next election battle.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#82

Post by metaphorm »

thissideup wrote: post #29
ceejayoz wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has nothing to do with whether or not it's a utility. They're clearly already capable of doing so.

Explain how the two ideas aren't related.

that's not how this works. you're the one that made the original unsubstantiated claim. the burden is now on you to substantiate your original claim.

explain the mechanism by which classifying internet service as a utility enhances the ability of the NSA to record that data.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#83

Post by xamuel »

nickff wrote: post #74
amputect wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My tap water is clean and delicious and I have never, ever had a problem with it. I have never experienced an unscheduled service interruption with my water, and scheduled service interruptions are very rare and advertised well in advance. My electricity is stable and reliable, and any power outages I've experienced have been brief, and exclusively due to exceptional weather events. I'm also a Comcast customer, and I…

Why would a lack of service by an internet provider be comparable to a utility pumping sewage? Shouldn't you be looking at water restrictions which the utilities blame on drought? This is the most similar type of event to the Comcast outage which you are describing. Both could have been prevented through better planning, capital expenditures, and forethought. If this is the comparison, both Comcast and many water pro…

>Why would a lack of service by an internet provider be comparable to a utility pumping sewage?

I work partly from home and, while not quite "utility pumping sewage" level of crisis, a badly-timed internet blackout at my apartment can be a serious problem for the whole team.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#84

Post by bratsche »

supergeek133 wrote: post #4

I get what they're trying to accomplish, we all want faster more reliable service, but as comparison is anyone 100% happy with their utility (power, water, etc)? That's where this is headed.

I don't know about 100%, but I am certainly much happier with my electric, water, and gas providers than I am with my cable provider.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#85

Post by ctl »

djrogers wrote: post #13

Setting aside the ultimate politics and ramifications of this, it is interesting (and kind of scary) to watch the fight between a non-elected bureaucracy and our elected house of representatives to regulate the internet. Congress seems to be completely incapable of doing more than grandstanding, while the bureaucrats may wind up dramatically increasing their own power with a single stroke of their unelected pens. It'…

You're complaining about the system... in response to a powerful instance of the system working correctly? What?

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#86

Post by bsder »

lutorm wrote: post #59
pluma wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you can't chose between different power companies in the US? Even in socialist Europe that isn't normally a problem. I can choose between at least a dozen different providers of electricity, and at least half a dozen providers of Internet and landline telephone access. And that's just in the rural parts of the country. Granted most of the infrastructure is centralized, but that doesn't stop competition on exten…

You used to be able to choose. Then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis happened.

You need to point out that it was Enron causing the problem, not everybody has the context anymore of how badly they screwed California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#87

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

skywhopper wrote: post #14

The major critique quoted here comes from David Farber of Carnegie-Mellon, who worries that classifying Internet access under Title II will allow it to be taxed. If that's the worst thing you can think of, we're in good shape.

The worst part is involving the FCC at all.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#89

Post by warfangle »

nickff wrote: post #74
amputect wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My tap water is clean and delicious and I have never, ever had a problem with it. I have never experienced an unscheduled service interruption with my water, and scheduled service interruptions are very rare and advertised well in advance. My electricity is stable and reliable, and any power outages I've experienced have been brief, and exclusively due to exceptional weather events. I'm also a Comcast customer, and I…

Why would a lack of service by an internet provider be comparable to a utility pumping sewage? Shouldn't you be looking at water restrictions which the utilities blame on drought? This is the most similar type of event to the Comcast outage which you are describing. Both could have been prevented through better planning, capital expenditures, and forethought. If this is the comparison, both Comcast and many water pro…

How about an internet provider injecting tracking scripts and advertisements into HTTP responses; an internet provider failing to respond correctly to DNS requests (so they can provide their own search engine on mistyped domains)? Both of these things have been done by ISPs - and recently.

I'd consider that comparable to a utility pumping sewage.

Re: F.C.C. Is Expected to Propose Regulating the Internet as a Utility

#90

Post by mbreese »

skywhopper wrote: post #14

The major critique quoted here comes from David Farber of Carnegie-Mellon, who worries that classifying Internet access under Title II will allow it to be taxed. If that's the worst thing you can think of, we're in good shape.

Internet access could always have been taxed... I'm not sure what in non-Title II classification would have stopped that. Congress can slap a tax on just about anything they'd like.

In fact, if you were to believe Comcast, there are already regulatory fees and taxes associated with my internet access (non-TV).

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