If the FCC Had Regulated the Internet From the Start

In the spirit of (but with a different approach than) last week's post "Is Net Neutrality Really Needed?", an anonymous reader writes with this "counterfactual history of the internet, but one that is all too plausible. Unfortunately, I can see this happening under the new 'Net Neutrality.'"

Comments

Re:Something's not quite right here...

[NeutronCowboy]

It's pure FUD. It hits all the hallmarks of the current fearmongering deployed by right-wing conservatives and wanna-be vertical monopolies like Comcast: putting any regulation on the Internet will lower innovation, increase costs, reduce offerings, reduce service and turn the US into a communist concentration camp run by liberals.

Here's why I actually like reading them: only if you know your enemy will you know how to defeat them. I hear these arguments repeated quite often at work (ironically, a web development shop), and it's nice that I know ahead of time why these arguments are wrong and what the counter-arguments are. It's much easier to be convincing if you have the data available from the top of your head about why they're wrong, rather than have to say "I'll send you the link later".