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Comcast/Charter Lobby Asks FTC To Preempt State Broadband Regulations (arstechnica.com)
Lobby groups on behalf of Comcast and Charter are asking the FTC to preempt state and local broadband regulations. "In comments filed this week, cable industry lobby group NCTA told the FTC that 'there is plainly no reasonable basis in today's marketplace for singling out ISPs for unique regulatory burdens,'" reports Ars Technica. "The FTC should let 'market forces' prevent bad behavior and avoid specific net neutrality or privacy regulation for the broadband industry, the lobby group said." From the report: The comments were filed in an FTC proceeding titled "Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century." The FTC is planning to hold hearings on the communications industry, the FTC's enforcement processes, and other competition and consumer protection topics. "The FTC should ensure that the Internet is subject to uniform, consistent federal regulations, including by issuing guidance explicitly setting forth that inconsistent state and local requirements are preempted," the NCTA wrote.
The FTC should endorse and reinforce the FCC's ruling by issuing guidance to state attorneys general and consumer protection authorities reaffirming that they are bound by FCC and FTC precedent in this arena," NCTA argued. NCTA's filing focused mostly on potential privacy regulation, saying that the FCC should continue its "technology-neutral approach to privacy and data security." Net neutrality concerns are best addressed by existing antitrust laws, the filing said.
The FTC should endorse and reinforce the FCC's ruling by issuing guidance to state attorneys general and consumer protection authorities reaffirming that they are bound by FCC and FTC precedent in this arena," NCTA argued. NCTA's filing focused mostly on potential privacy regulation, saying that the FCC should continue its "technology-neutral approach to privacy and data security." Net neutrality concerns are best addressed by existing antitrust laws, the filing said.
But But we paid all that money to get our way with the federal.
Whine ... Whine ... Whine....
Please don't let the states take away our cash cow. All these regulation we will now have to keep up with.. its not fair....*stomping feet*
Whine ,,, Whine ... Whine..
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Dear NCTA,
We agree with you 100% that market forces are the best way to prevent bad behavior. Accordingly, we will instruct each city and state that grants one of your member companies a cable franchise to open up those franchises to any company desiring to provide internet service. Once every household in the country has a minimum of 4 different ISPs to choose from, we can discuss the state-level regulations mentioned in your letter.
Sincerely,
The FTC
Yeah, but market forces only work when there's competition. They've all lobbied to prevent any real competition. I only have one choice when it comes to any real broadband. Satellite just doesn't count.
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I could convince all the pro NN folks to drop that pursuit and instead pursue taking the monopolies themselves away from the ISP's entirely. The poles, wires, and buried cable all become publicly funded just like roads and managed by contract bid out to whoever wants to run and maintain them so long as it is never one of the carriers, where the businesses now pay for the % of bandwidth their customers use with the price set by a commission, where anyone willing to start a new ISP can easily move into the marketspace and offer broadband to their neighbors without Comcast, Verizon, Cox, or whoever from blocking them in court or BS laws!
AND also removing all local municipalities from being able to sign exclusive deals with ISP's entirely!
Prices would drop like dying flies and every carrier would be advertising how they don't track you, keep your data private, and would never throttle your connection to netflix over comcast!
...only matter to Republicans when the states are Republican controlled and don't fight the Republican agenda of giving to the rich and screwing everyone else, otherwise it's Federal Tyranny all the way!
You've absolutely hit the nail on the head. Get rid of the monopolies.. give them the same deregulation we gave to the telecom world with CLECs. Suddenly, prices will drop like hail from a thunderstorm.. just like long distance did in the 90s.
Google manged to win the rights to the poles in several markets and didn't do anything with it. They couldn't make it profitable. The problem is the investment is too high. You can't compete. Comcast and cost pay somewhere between $9-$15/mo to get you internet and charge $70+ for it (based on SEC filings). That gives them a _lot_ of room to drop their pants and kill any competitor who enters the market, making competing way, way too risky.
If you want things to improve you're going to need more regulation, not less. The current market is too far gone. To be honest it was always going to be. The problem with telecom is it's really expensive to build all that wire. That's why they were granted monopolies in the first place. Though if you ask me we should have just built a national public network like we did the the roads. As it stands we paid for it in the form of tax breaks and subsidies and just let a private company profit from it. Not very smart.
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One way to at least ensure that customers aren't completely tied into one supplier is to use a layered approach so that the cabling is separated from the service provider which in turn is separated from the content provider.
Right now the goal is to control the customers by making sure that cables, content and connection service is through one single provider and you as a customer have no choice.
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Fuck you sideways with a rusty chainsaw, Comcast. You're just waiting for your chance to screw everyone, aren't you?
Per Article 5 of the Constitution, 34 states are required to convene a convention and 37 to pass the amendment. Yes, the internet and network neutrality is that important.
But they could take the opportunity to fix a few other overreaches of federal power as well, reign in the commerce clause, clarify the right to bear arms, the right to privacy, force the federal government to shrink and limit strongarming states with strings attached funding by diverting income tax to the states, put limits on time in position for top brass military and congress, etc.