'Super Telco', Net Neutrality Debated in Europe

My Nipples Explode With Delight writes to mention a ZDNet article looking at a proposal for a 'super-telco' regulation board for the EU. The idea was ripped apart, at an event where Net Neutrality in Europe and roaming charges were also discussed. From the article: "'The Commissioner thinks Net neutrality needs to be addressed,' said Blowers, who claimed a lack of relevant regulation in America had led to the issue being so explosive there. 'It is probably not sufficient to just talk about competition powers to deal with Net neutrality,' he continued, before suggesting that, if tiered services were introduced in the UK and Europe, 'there should be sufficient transparency in the market that consumers can make informed choices'."

Comments

What a terrible article

[CopaceticOpus]

This article is such a poorly written mess. I've looked over it twice and I don't think I even know which side the EC is taking on net neutrality. (I know, I know, that's what I get for RTFA...)

Re:Market Transparency

[EvilNTUser]

"*I've said it before and I'll say it again, can we please come up with a better sobriquet than "Net Neutrality"?! How the hell am I supposed to get my family and friends interested in "neutrality"?"

Hopefully by appealing to reasoning and your conversational skills. We don't want any more PATRIOT and SAVETHECHILDREN style votes, even if they benefit us.

Regulation Is Good

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Let me tell you something about the free market. It's a crock of shit. There's a lot of great laisse faire thinkers out there lauding the idea of zero government interfereance in private affairs, but other forces, such as reality, tend to conflict with their ideals.

Left to its own devices, the market will form a monopoly. With a higher cost of entry, the monopoly will simply form faster. If there was no government oversight, we'd have one worldwide telco/isp/overlord within about 20 years. As it stands we only have less than a dozen tier 1 telcos anyway. Companies so huge they have "Gentlemen's Agreements" instead of monied contracts. What more evidence do you need. It's a cartel!

Now of course, if you have too much regulations, inefficiency, blah, blah, blah. Great, I'll keep it in mind, but at the moment, the internet is rapidly becoming the private demesne of a handful of companies. Companies beholden to no one. I foresee a future where private company regulations superceed any and all rights you or I have to use the internet in the way we want. BellSouth could permanantly blacklist you for irritiating them in your blog.

I say, fuck private companies. The internet, electricity, water, etc, should be public resources, like the air. So if they want to run things, they can do so under a regulator. Oh yeah, and transparently too. You provide a public service, then you've got to do it publically pal. Fuckers paw all our juicy data, but we're not entitled to get their caffeteria menus? Gods danm plutocrats.