re: net neutrality

quote:

---

It's a fair regulation that prevents ISPs from regulating content.

---

I have no problem with this, NONE WHAT SO EVER.

quote:

---

I don't think you're understanding what "government involvement" entails here. The status quo is net neutrality.

---

We aren't talking about status quo, we're talking about New regulations and new legislation, and again I'm not automatically opposed to it, I just want to know what's in the bill before we pass it.


Am I being unreasonable?

quote:

---

Well Kenfricker and TeflonAss compared black civil rights violations of the 1950s to a fat lesbian couple not being able to have their fat lesbian wedding on a farm in New York.

---

Because I don't recognize any race beyond the human one, I never mentioned any comparison of groups trying to achieve equal rights under the law. I argued straight up that the lesbians deserved to be served because New York recognizes gays as a protected group.

I know, but others did.

I was objecting to your statement in this thread:

quote:

---

Well Kenfricker and TeflonAss compared black civil rights violations of the 1950s to a fat lesbian couple not being able to have their fat lesbian wedding on a farm in New York.

---

quote:

---

I have no problem with this, NONE WHAT SO EVER.

---

Good because I hate conservatives that say, carte blanche, "all regulation is bad, you should be able to operate your business however you want!!!" Operating your business in your best interests often times eliminates competition, stifles innovation, and hurts price equilibrium which destroys the "free" part of the free market equation.

quote:

---

We aren't talking about status quo, we're talking about New regulations and new legislation, and again I'm not automatically opposed to it, I just want to know what's in the bill before we pass it.

---

I think the smartest people in the room are the executives at the telecom companies. In 2002, they decided not to extend common carrier rules to cable companies. In three years, the number of ISPs dropped 75%. Competition is good, but so is consolidation. It's hard to determine what the biggest force at work was here, but I think it's irrelevant. The bigger players were going to weed themselves out. The biggest problem is only having ONE choice, and that's what most people have.

The biggest issue for the I have read in no definitive terms from anonymous reports of people in the room, that the telecom had meetings about how to leverage companies like netflix for money. That these companies were making incredible profits off of their product, and they needed a cut. I think that's when they decided to attack net neutrality. There was a bonanza of growth in the 2000s, and now it's stagnant. The growth is now in the content arena, and they needed a way to squeeze money out of people that want that content. The interstates have been laid and now the road construction companies want to make money off the people buying new cars.

And it's quite convenient. Because they are also in the car making business. Well in this case content business. They are cable companies. Except this one little problem... because of net neutrality they couldn't

I think there biggest mistake was missing the elephant in the room.... Google. There is a content provider more powerful than them. These telecom giants spent a decade methodically laying fiber networks, often times negotiating with local municipalities to be the only fiber line(despicable, IMO). They never truly believed anyone could possibly have the capital to compete with them other than themselves. And now Google Fiber came along, and they don't know what to do.

And now if they force this in to Title II, Google might be reluctant to expand their fiber because the government sets price points and they can't justify it. As far as making it Title II right now, I am curious how the companies react. If they are willing to accept it because they believe they'll retain market share, I won't be surprised because I think they are scared shitless of Google Fiber. If they fight it tooth and nail because they know that they're making insane profit margins for service they no longer care to maintain and upgrade(and I think this is the biggest problem with them, I think internet is just fast enough that they are making an annoyance tax off of us by refusing to upgrade speeds any more) then I won't be surprised either.

quote:

---

Am I being unreasonable?

---

No. They are interrelated issues, but separate, you're right. They are both at the forefront because of the telecom giants profit margins though, which is why they need to be discussed together.

quote:

---

I think the smartest people in the room are the executives at the telecom companies. In 2002, they decided not to extend common carrier rules to cable companies. In three years, the number of ISPs dropped 75%. Competition is good, but so is consolidation. It's hard to determine what the biggest force at work was here, but I think it's irrelevant. The bigger players were going to weed themselves out. The biggest problem is only having ONE choice, and that's what most people have.

---

I think they have been the smartest folks in the room for decades. With the .com bust in the 90's and the crash of 08' we have seen the value of dividends creeping back into the shareholder mentality. Google and Apple will reach a point where they are not growth companies anymore and will have to adapt. The big telecoms already have lots of cash and a history of paying dividends which means long term they will have underlying support on values.

Long histories of taking care of shareholders coupled with brick and mortar footprints already across the US would give a competitive advantage hard to match. I think it was Bill Gates who said the Segway would be in every household in a decade, so far that has not happened.

Even if Google cars and Google glass take off, competition will not give them a monopoly in either. Think of it this way, look in your city and see how many brick and mortar locations Google has? Now look at how many AT&T and Verizon have.