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Oregon judge rules AT&T must open cables

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the maybe-my-bandwidth-will-get-better dept.

Cygnus v1 writes "This story on ZDNN gives some hope to those of us waiting for our local cable companies to get on the Internet-access bandwagon now or let third parties do the work. A Portland judge ruled that AT&T, who owns a local cable network, must allow third-party ISPs to do business over their network for a fee. Some argue that AT&T's rights are being violated, but I believe that since most of the cable infrastructure was installed in cooperation with local authorities they have some right to determine how the utility will be best able to serve the public. "

1 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. This is Critical! by gddavidson · · Score: 4

    The Oregon court has made a very smart, forward looking decision. It is absolutely critical that ISPs have access to both the Cable and DSL infrastructure. Bell and the rest of them dream of the day that they will *force* their cable and dsl subscribers to look at _their_ portal ... and _their_ ads. They will force everyone through _their_ proxy server. They will choose what sorts of email servers they will support. And which sort of IP packets they will let through.


    It is important that people wake up and realize the value of competition. Persons using dial-up access now have CHOICE. If you don't like your ISP, you can choose one of the other 15 that service your area. This competition has resulted in improved service, as each ISP strives to add the bullet points that another ISP may currently have and to fix problems that may be causing customers to complain.


    Local Loop (the physical medium that connects a home or business to an ISP) and the IP Services provided by the ISP are two different animals. Bell is using their monopoly on the one (high speed local loop) to gain a monopoly on the other (IP Services.)


    Let's hope that other states follow the lead of Oregon.