Slashdot Mirror
Net Neutrality Supporters Hammered In Elections
Pickens writes "Gigi Sohn writes in the Huffington Post that one of the results of the mid-term elections was the defeat of Representative Rick Boucher, the current Chair of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, widely recognized as one of the most tech-savvy and intelligent members of Congress, and long an advocate for consumers on a wide variety of communications and intellectual property issues. Boucher has been the best friend of fair use on Capitol Hill writes Sohn. In 2002, 2003 and 2007, Boucher introduced legislation to allow consumers to break digital locks for lawful purposes, a fair use exception to the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and while the odds against that legislation passing were always great, Boucher understood the symbolic importance of standing up for consumers' rights to use technology lawfully. 'As important, he served as a moderating force both on the House Energy & Commerce and Judiciary Committees against those many members of Congress willing to give large media companies virtually everything on their copyright wish lists.'"
Constitution supporters won.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Libertarians think everything is the government's fault, even blaming them for monopolies. But the fact is, this is a natural monopoly. You are not going to have half a dozen companies laying competing fiber networks do your door. (And without the government imposing eminent domain, you won't even have ONE). The choice isn't between a government-regulated monopoly vs a thriving marketplace, it's between a government-regulated monopoly vs. an unregulated monopoly. Free markets are great for most things, but the government must be involved with infrastructure at some level. Maybe better wireless technology will help the situation, one day.
I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but you're also not telling the whole story. In many cases, these are private companies that have invested literally billions of dollars in infrastructure. While governments have granted some concessions along the way in order to facilitate the build out of these networks, to now turn around and take these billion-dollar investments over and tell these companies what they can and cannot do with them...it's tantamount to robbery. And why? Look at all of the posts on this. It all boils down to selfishness.
I want to be able to...
I don't want to pay more...
No one anywhere is proposing charging you more to look at Slashdot. What they are saying is that to provide quality services they're going to have to be able to control the speed at which various services are delivered. Frankly, this whole "net neutrality" debate is a total red herring being thrown up because the government has for years been trying to take over this industry unsuccessfully. Now, they've finally scared enough people into thinking that someone is going to be charging them more to surf their favorite web site and they think they have a winner.
These companies paid money to build this infrastructure. It's theirs. You don't like it? Pony up and build your own damn billion-dollar network.
Social Engineering Expert: Because there is no patch for stupidity.
Ummm... better than your cocaine habit?
In other words, in case you don't use Youtube or Facebook, you get to pay less for your Internet access. How is this bad?
There are only two kinds of people who have a problem with net neutrality:
1. People with a vested interest in screwing consumers out of more cash by turning the wide open, free Internet into a system of toll roads - Telco executives, media company executives.
2. Libertarians who would rather personally deal with multinational megacorporations themselves than have the government protect their interests from the telco robber barons, because the regulations involved would somehow reduce their freedom (??? O_o) or would be unfair to those poor telco execs, weeping quietly in their gold-rimmed pools, never to know the luxury of lounging in a platinum-rimmed pool. Later they sulk off to their private airliner to attend a sad violin concerto in Italy. Poor telco and media execs, aww :(
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel