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Utah Bill Would Prevent Regional Fiber Networks From Growing

Posted by Soulskill on from the stop-obstructing-my-internet dept.

symbolset writes "On the heels of the smackdown received by cable lobbyists in Kansas, Ars reports out of Utah that the cable companies aren't giving up hopes of preventing competition through legislation. The bill, called Interlocal Entity Service Prohibition, would prevent a regional fiber consortium from building infrastructure outside the boundaries of its member cities and towns — a direct attack on Google's work in Provo and the UTOPIA network. Utah is the third state to be involved in the Google Fiber rollout of gigabit fiber to the home."

4 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Protect Our Monopolies! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please, please Mr. Politician, can't you help our poor, poor monopolies protect our billions and prevent our customers from choosing a better service for a better price? It's just not fair!!

    1. Re:Protect Our Monopolies! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The concern in this case is that the public sector is using tax dollars and grants from federal entities to overbuild an existing private network

      And that's bad because...?

      Let's not BS about this "private network" you refer to. It's only "private" in as much as the profits are held privately. It exists in large part thanks to public subsidies, set-asides and tax abatement. It's built on public land and right-of-ways. It got "private" because government gave telecoms and cable television special protections and specifically limited competition on their behalf.

      Tell you what: As long as the entities that own these "private" networks actually start to obey the spirit of anti-trust laws and stop trying to become content providers and as long as they get on board with 100% net neutrality and as long as they stop asking for special tax dispensations, and as long as the market actually becomes competitive, then maybe we can talk about protecting their "private" network.

      Until then, they need to take their scummy lobbyists and stop ripping people off or as far as I'm concerned, the whole network should be nationalized and turned into a public utility.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  2. Re:Think of the Free Market! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    To save the free market, we must destroy the free market.

    It is the only way. I do this with a heavy heart, knowing it is the right wrong thing.

  3. Re:Slashdot Beta Kills Slashdot by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, they're forcing logged in users over to Beta. Not all of us at once, but in waves.

    If you find an alternative site, I'm all ears.

    Or if you set up an alternative site, since older versions of SlashCode are open source.