Slashdot Mirror
Doctorow Tears Up ISP Contract Over Net Neutrality
Burz writes "As a reaction to Virgin Media CEO's promise to violate the concept of net neutrality, Cory Doctorow is declaring his ISP contract void, canceling the service, and calling on other Virgin customers to do the same. He isn't alone. Charlie Stross counts the ways the gang that became Virgin Media is trashing Sir Richard's brand. Myself, I am thinking of stopping my Virgin Mobile service in protest."
Who is Cory Doctorow and why does he matter?
I would Read The Friendly Article to find out, but it's slashdotted already!
I wonder if there will be a day when net neutrality has been usurped, despite all the protests, and we've come to accept as the status quo. And then, all of a sudden, another *unconscionable* development of corporate greed takes place, in which we have the same uproar, and the same eventual defeat. Can anyone think of examples in the past where has taken place? I'm not coming up with anything that passes a basic coherency test, but this has to be some cycle we go through on a regular basis. Do these things ever lead to positive outcomes, or are we just the man in front of the tank?
Perhaps this is not such a bad thing, it may bring more attention to the issue than there is currently. Maybe if some people start to experience and understand what the lack of net-neutrality actually causes, they will be more likely to be more involved in ensuring net-neutrality is enforced.
However, I must admit that if net-neutrality is lost, it may be impossible to re-gain--much like public health-care in the US will be next-to-impossible to get.
What consumers need are more consumer lobby groups. I am certainly very willing to pay an extra 1% tax just to get the benefit of such a lobby group. Oh, wait, we are already paying for the government, why not get them to do something?...oh...right...never mind.
Huh? [devShell.org]
I dont have a virgin phone service. A billing "discrepancy" from last year, an offer I bartered for, was fixed last month with Virgin claiming to shoulder the costs. What actually happened is they added the XL phone package to my discounted XL TV + XL Broadband offer. I have been a customer for 18 months, and I bartered for my previous deal of £41.50/pm only to have them add the Phone package without informing me, and charge me £70.
I rang to cancel and let them know I intended to move to sky and and was offered my old £41.50 offer at a no-contract rate of £49pm (I'm not sure where I'll be living in 3 months, so I can't get a contract). Problem fixed, or so I believe. The debt collection team phone me this morning to inform me my direct debit had bounced - and it would do if it was in excess of £50 as the account is for bills only, and is credited with a standing order for the appropriate amount each month.
It transpires (I guessed it instantly), that after billing me £70 and changing it back to the negotiated rate of £49, they discounted next months direct debit by £20, so that the net 2 month charge would be equal to my negotiated rate over 2 months.
But! That doesn't mean I can pay £70 in one month for a problem they have caused, because I subject to cash flow issues. To make things worst, I have been charged by my bank for the defaulting direct debit, wasted £15 on the phone last time I called, and £10 today.
Today was awful! I was called this morning by the debt collection team who would not let me pay £49 or change my direct debit, until I settled the £70 mistake, even tho it was obvious the real amount was £49 based on the remedied discount applied to the next bill. I'm forced to pay for their mistake!?! They told me there was nothing they could do, and that I had to phone them back and fixed the issue. I got through to India twice and was told the same thing, only that the team that called me was the team that dealt with it. In the end I gave up. I asked to be put through to the cancellation team.
The cancellation team were great. The credit was applied to this month, and my outstanding balance returned to what I should pay/can pay. I've praised VM in the past, and will continue to do so in the future - but only their cancellation team, as they're the only ones with the power to resolve your problems.
I am contemplating billing VM for the saga cost me £20 in phone calls (I have a mobile phone, and no one would phone me!), and the bounced direct debit penalty stemming from their inability to resolve the problem when I called them and they called me.
Matt
1. His good ideas fizzle out* and don't leave enough to finish the story* in an interesting way*, and
2. He's really bad at writing women*, resulting in uneven characters* and weird story self-hijackings*.
The other writer mentioned here, Charles Stross, writes amusing* Cthulhu-Mythos/Spy-thriller/Geek novels and not-so-good* hard SciFi.
* This is, obviously, just my opinion. No, I've never written a novel. Yes, I can back it up with examples. It's an opinion, though, so your mileage may vary. Go bitch at someone who cares.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
I can guarantee that it's more than just a blip on Virgin's radar today.
If you don't think internet word of mouth regarding a company's service, and some bad and highly visible blog posts about said company can do any damage, you might want to talk to the newly unemployed upper management from Northwest Airlines who just had to sell out to Delta because their reputation was so dismal.
Soon (and you can quote me on this), something similar will happen to United Airlines. There has been a constant drumbeat on the web from people who have had bad experiences with them. You should assume that they will soon merge with a company with a very good reputation, like Delta (but not Delta). In fact, you might want to make a play in the options market betting on that very thing (as I have).
It's worth noting that there is money to be made from the collapse of the US economy, and you can bet that the people who are in charge of our economy are making money that very way. Since I am charged with the responsibility of taking care of my family, I am following their lead and betting that we have entered what will be a protracted and very severe recession. In fact, betting on the miserable leadership of the Bush Administration in the options market has been so profitable, that I've been able to retire from being a wage-slave. I actually owe a debt of gratitude to George Bush for fulfilling every prediction that was made about his being a total failure. Most intelligent people predicted that he'd shit the country's bed, and he has exceeded every one of these predictions in both quantity and quality of shit.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I think it's about time some major websites made an agreement to block all traffic from any ISP that distinguishes based on website. A deterrent besides "we'll tell our family and friends not to use Virgin" is something we really need. Normal people won't stick with an ISP that can't reach youtube.
[I don't actually know the technical details of how or if this can be done]
Yeah this was actually the one examples that came to mind while I was writing the original post. I couldn't formalize it well enough to post it. I was thinking about the Google bid for the 700mhz spectrum. Seriously, a *corporation* had to fight to keep the bandwidth open by guarunteeing to pay billions of dollars for that "privilege?" When the governement is trying to make money and business is watch-dogging itself then I'm not sure what we've come to. Seems like doing The Right Thing takes a bunch of economic clought these days.
Who wants to grow up normal? What sane parent would inflict normality on their children?
Infuriate left and right
I already do stop paying for services I consider a ripoff. For example I no longer have cable TV. The thing is, that 99.99999% are sheep who will continue paying because they're too gutless or apathetic to make a stand. And with Doctrow, he is practically a cult leader, which means yeah, the people who "follow" him do follow EVERYTHING he says.
And the fact is stuff I'VE written has made it onto the front page of Slashdot, so that's not really a high watermark of recognition. It's just that the choir Doctrow preaches too are a subcommunity of Slashdot essentially.
Yes, a handful of people may very well shake their fists and tell Virgin to shove it. Good on 'em. I'm all for taking a stand. (The list of companies and services I boycott is quite long. I know it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the company. I have no delusions.) I doubt that number would equate to more than 0.0001% of their total customer base. And the fact is getting rid of the trouble makers is GOOD for Virgin, because then they won't continue complaining in public forums about the issue, because it no longer effects them. The storm in a teacup will pass, and Virgin will quietly go back to coming up with new and interesting ways of ripping off their customers.
It may be lost revenue, but if down the road, losing the trouble makers means Virgin can slide in a price increase, bandwidth cap, or any other of a million things to increase revenue without a Cory Doctrow to whine about it, they'll ultimately earn more money down the road anyway.
And really, the drop in the ocean of the few people who may leave because of him is minimal. Not even a blip. Doctrow's proclamation is hardly likely to make Virgin's stock plummet tomorrow is it. Until a boycott or termination of services reaches that level, it's pointless, sadly. Companies answer to their stock holders and that's it. If the stock price isn't hurt, Doctrow is a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing, and Virgin won't give a damn.
I'm all for bringing attention to the attitudes in the industry to net neutrality etc... But pushing Doctrow's opinion is like betting your money on a Trabant in the Dakar rally, or for San Marino to win the next World Cup. (Reference chosen specifically due to Doctrow's attitude to football.)