'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

Have a nice weekend.

[grub]

My Nipples Explode With Delight writes [...]
Now that's something you don't see in Forbes.

Re:Have a nice weekend.

[CopaceticOpus]

For anyone who doesn't get the reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Gn6a3WbYw

eww

[Wellington Grey]

My Nipples Explode With Delight writes...

And so, in the October of 2006 the great slashdot war of dirtiest-handle-on-the-frontpage was begun.

-Grey

Re:eww

[truthsearch]

You expect otherwise on Slashdot?

Re:eww

[Tackhead]

> > My Nipples Explode With Delight writes...
>
> And so, in the October of 2006 the great slashdot war of dirtiest-handle-on-the-frontpage was begun.

"And so, it begins..."
"The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the nipples to vote."

"Slashdot.org was our last, best hope for geeks. It failed. But, in the Year of the Handle War, it became something greater: our last, best hope... for my nipples. The year is 2006. The place: Nippylon 5." - Commander Susan Ivanova, whose nipples, I might add, are a lot better-looking than Commander Taco, who did this voice track last year. Ivanova is always right. Ivanova is God. And every time this post gets modded up, her nipples will explode with delight.

Hey... I totally understand

[not already in use]

Yeah guys username is a bit wierd... but I understand the frustration of trying to pick a username that is not already in use.

Re:Hey... I totally understand

[Em Adespoton]

In fact, I'd say you completely failed to pick a username that was not already in use.

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:What a terrible article

[illegalcortex]

I think it was something about combustible mammaries...

mod me down

[chuckfucter]

because all i can do is make comments about the submitters username

Hell with the article

[Rodness]

I just wanna see the exploding nipples!

Tubes?

[From A Far Away Land]

"if tiered services were introduced in the UK and Europe, 'there should be sufficient transparency in the market that consumers can make informed choices'."

That's the key to Network Neutrality. The Internet's Tubes have to be see-through so they know what service they are getting.

Market Transparency

[TheWoozle]

...is exactly what the telcos do *not* want. If they actually had to list out all of the under-handed "traffic shaping" (ed. - I realize that there is a necessity for legitimate traffic shaping, but the potential for abuse is the whole point of this discussion) and hidden bandwith-capping that they engage in, then people would know what the whole Net Neutrality* debate is really about.

*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"?

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.

An article about network neutrality.

[todd10k]

And almost every comment so far has been about the submitter's username. Maybe i should sign up a new username. "Póg mo thóin"

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.