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AT&T Facing Net Neutrality Complaint Over FaceTime Restrictions
Today several public interest groups, including Public Knowledge, announced plans to file a net neutrality complaint with the FCC over AT&T's restriction of FaceTime on iPads and iPhones. Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood said, "AT&T’s decision to block FaceTime unless a customer pays for voice and text minutes she doesn’t need is a clear violation of the FCC’s Open Internet rules. It’s particularly outrageous that AT&T is requiring this for iPad users, given that this device isn’t even capable of making voice calls. AT&T's actions are incredibly harmful to all of its customers, including the deaf, immigrant families and others with relatives overseas, who depend on mobile video apps to communicate with friends and family." The groups have sent a letter (PDF) to AT&T asking them to reconsider their policy. The communications giant has previously responded to complaints by proclaiming their transparency and saying that charging more for being able to use FaceTime over mobile broadband is a "reasonable restriction."
Having worked for AT&T in the past I can guarantee you that their thoughts on this issue are "We don't give a shit and there's not a god damned thing apple can do about it."
AT&T is too big, too entrenched, too immovable. Imagine a company, larger than GM, that you were forced to buy your car from. You could not get a car from anyone else without moving. And then, even if you did move, you more than likely would end up in another area where you had to buy a car made by them. Even if you did end up somewhere that had a different company you could buy a car from, that company would be either selling you an ATT car with a different sticker on it, or at least large parts of the car had been made by ATT.. oh yea, and ATT gets to decide what they charge that other company for those parts and they charge a lot more to them, than they do to themselves so it costs more to buy it from someone else to.
That's what we're dealing with here. An entrenched, 100+ year old government sanctioned monopoly that has more clout in Washington you could possibly imagine. You may think "Well, these are cellphones! ATT doesn't own all the towers! I can get Sprint, or Verizon!" Oh yea? And how are those towers connected? How are the cellular regulations set? Who does congress listen to? You want to lay a new fiber trunk? Who owns the right of way? That's right, you need ATTs permission. ATT IS phone service in this country. Period. If apple wants to get away from ATT they are going to have to start communicating with gravitons or some shit... and even then its likely that ATT will complain to congress and get that form of communication rolled into a new telecom act giving them sole ownership of the relevant bosons or something.