This one too http://bennett.com/blog/2008/11/just-another-utility/
--srs (iPad) > On 05-Mar-2014, at 8:55, Suresh Ramasubramanian <sur...@hserus.net> wrote: > > That is probably the most, to use the same language, bs point of them all. > Mostly parroted by a school of net neutrality people (Susan Crawford, Tim Wu > etc) that really should know better, but that doesn't quite stop them. > > Come to think of it, they too like to use overblown and soundbite laden > (though rather less crude) language in multiple blogs and press quotes, as > tweet bait likely, for all that they're professors of law and you would > expect more precise language from them. Still much the same memes as this > guy trots out .. Extortion, Internet tax etc etc when they talk about, say > the recent netflix comcast paid peering deal. > > And it has more disturbing consequences too than you would care to think > about. > > http://techliberation.com/2008/11/19/the-perils-of-thinking-of-broadband-as-a-public-utility/ > > --srs (iPad) > >> On 05-Mar-2014, at 8:46, Udhay Shankar N <ud...@pobox.com> wrote: >> >> Via Dave Farber's IP list. Ignoring many of the talking points in the rant >> below, the claim I am most interested in is "The internet is a utility, >> just like water and electricity." >> >> I am really interested in the thoughts of silklisters on this, especially >> folks like Sunil Abraham and Pranesh Prakash, who work in the policy area; >> Cory Doctorow, who ceaselessly educates anyone who will listen on these >> issues; and divers others. >> >> Udhay >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: *Dewayne Hendricks* <dewa...@warpspeed.com> >> Date: Tuesday, March 4, 2014 >> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The internet is fucked >> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-...@warpspeed.com> >> >> >> [Note: This item comes from friend Tim Pozar. DLH] >> >> From: Tim Pozar <po...@lns.com> >> Subject: The internet is fucked >> Date: March 4, 2014 at 8:13:00 PST >> To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewa...@warpspeed.com> >> >> POLICY & LAW >> The internet is fucked >> By Nilay Patel >> Feb 25 2014 >> <http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/25/5431382/the-internet-is-fucked> >> >> Here's a simple truth: the internet has radically changed the world. Over >> the course of the past 20 years, the idea of networking all the world's >> computers has gone from a research science pipe dream to a necessary >> condition of economic and social development, from government and >> university labs to kitchen tables and city streets. We are all travelers >> now, desperate souls searching for a signal to connect us all. It is >> awesome. >> >> And we're fucking everything up. >> >> Massive companies like AT&T and Comcast have spent the first two months of >> 2014 boldly announcing plans to close and control the internet through >> additional fees, pay-to-play schemes, and sheer brutal size -- all while the >> legal rules designed to protect against these kinds of abuses were struck >> down in court for basically making too much sense. "Broadband providers >> represent a threat to internet openness," concluded Judge David Tatel in >> Verizon's case against the FCC's Open Internet order, adding that the FCC >> had provided ample evidence of internet companies abusing their market >> power and had made "a rational connection between the facts found and the >> choices made." Verizon argued strenuously, but had offered the court "no >> persuasive reason to question that judgement." >> >> Then Tatel cut the FCC off at the knees for making "a rather half-hearted >> argument" in support of its authority to properly police these threats and >> vacated the rules protecting the open internet, surprising observers on >> both sides of the industry and sending new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler into a >> tailspin of empty promises seemingly designed to disappoint everyone. >> >> "I expected the anti-blocking rule to be upheld," National Cable and >> Telecommunications Association president and CEO Michael Powell told me >> after the ruling was issued. Powell was chairman of the FCC under George W. >> Bush; he issued the first no-blocking rules. "Judge Tatel basically said >> the Commission didn't argue it properly." >> >> In the meantime, the companies that control the internet have continued >> down a dark path, free of any oversight or meaningful competition to check >> their behavior. In January, AT&T announced a new "sponsored data" plan that >> would dramatically alter the fierce one-click-away competition that's thus >> far characterized the internet. Earlier this month, Comcast announced plans >> to merge with Time Warner Cable, creating an internet service behemoth that >> will serve 40 percent of Americans in 19 of the 20 biggest markets with >> virtually no rivals. >> >> And after months of declining Netflix performance on Comcast's network, the >> two companies announced a new "paid peering" arrangement on Sunday, which >> will see Netflix pay Comcast for better access to its customers, a >> capitulation Netflix has been trying to avoid for years. Paid peering >> arrangements are common among the network companies that connect the >> backbones of the internet, but consumer companies like Netflix have >> traditionally remained out of the fray -- and since there's no oversight or >> transparency into the terms of the deal, it's impossible to know what kind >> of precedent it sets. Broadband industry insiders insist loudly that the >> deal is just business as usual, while outside observers are full of >> concerns about the loss of competition and the increasing power of >> consolidated network companies. Either way, it's clear that Netflix has >> decided to take matters -- and costs -- into its own hands, instead of >> relying on rational policy to create an effective and fair marketplace. >> >> In a perfect storm of corporate greed and broken government, the internet >> has gone from vibrant center of the new economy to burgeoning tool of >> economic control. Where America once had Rockefeller and Carnegie, it now >> has Comcast's Brian Roberts, AT&T's Randall Stephenson, and Verizon's >> Lowell McAdam, robber barons for a new age of infrastructure monopoly built >> on fiber optics and kitty GIFs. >> >> And the power of the new network-industrial complex is immense and >> unchecked, even by other giants: AT&T blocked Apple's FaceTime and Google's >> Hangouts video chat services for the preposterously silly reason that the >> apps were "preloaded" on each company's phones instead of downloaded from >> an app store. Verizon and AT&T have each blocked the Google Wallet mobile >> payment system because they're partners in the competing (and not very >> good) ISIS service. Comcast customers who stream video on their Xboxes >> using Microsoft's services get charged against their data caps, but the >> Comcast service is tax-free. >> >> We're really, really fucking this up. >> >> But we can fix it, I swear. We just have to start telling each other the >> truth. Not the doublespeak bullshit of regulators and lobbyists, but the >> actual truth. Once we have the truth, we have the power -- the power to >> demand better not only from our government, but from the companies that >> serve us as well. "This is a political fight," says Craig Aaron, president >> of the advocacy group Free Press. "When the internet speaks with a unified >> voice politicians rip their hair out." >> >> We can do it. Let's start. >> >> THE INTERNET IS A UTILITY, JUST LIKE WATER AND ELECTRICITY >> >> Go ahead, say it out loud. The internet is a utility. >> >> There, you've just skipped past a quarter century of regulatory corruption >> and lawsuits that still rage to this day and arrived directly at the >> obvious conclusion. Internet access isn't a luxury or a choice if you live >> and participate in the modern economy, it's a requirement. Have you ever >> been in an office when the internet goes down? It's like recess. My friend >> Paul Miller lived without the internet for a year and I'm still not >> entirely sure he's recovered from the experience. The internet isn't an >> adjunct to real life; it's not another place. You don't do things "on the >> internet," you just do things. The network is interwoven into every moment >> of our lives, and we should treat it that way. >> >> "COMMON CARRIER RULES ARE BASICALLY FREE SPEECH." >> Yet the corporations that control internet access insist that they're >> providing specialized services that are somehow different than water, >> power, and telephones. They point to crazy bullshit you don't want or need >> like free email addresses and web hosting solutions and goofy personalized >> search screens as evidence that they're actually providing "information" >> services instead of the more highly regulated "telecommunications" >> services. "Common carrier rules are basically free speech," says the Free >> Press' Aaron. "We have all these protections for what happens over landline >> phones that we're not extending to data, even though all these people under >> 25 mostly communicate in data." >> >> It's time to just end these stupid legal word games and say what we all >> already know: internet access is a utility. A commodity that should get >> better and faster and cheaper over time. Anyone who says otherwise is lying >> for money. >> >> THERE IS ZERO COMPETITION FOR INTERNET ACCESS >> >> None. Zero. Nothing. It is a wasteland. You are standing in the desert and >> the only thing that grows is higher prices. >> >> 70 percent of American households have but one or two choices for >> high-speed internet access: cable broadband from a cable provider or DSL >> from a telephone provider. And since DSL isn't nearly as fast as cable, and >> the cable companies are aggressive in bundling TV and internet packages >> together, it's really only one choice. And that means the level of >> innovation from these providers has almost completely stagnated, even as >> prices have gone up. >> >> Why are cellphones so much cooler now than they were in 2000? Because Apple >> and Google and Samsung all had to fight it out and make better products in >> order to survive. They're competing. Comcast hasn't had to fight anything, >> at any time. It is fat and lazy and wants nothing more than to get fatter >> and lazier. That's why Comcast is spending $45 billion on Time Warner Cable >> instead of integrating Netflix into its cable boxes and working with Apple >> and Google and Microsoft on the real next generation of TV: when you're the >> only real choice in 19 of America's 20 biggest markets, you get to move >> real slow and still make a lot of money. It's not clear Comcast even knows >> what real competition looks like. >> >> "Unless the FCC thinks that there is a realistic chance that the deal will >> reverse two decades of rising prices, it should stop the merger," writes >> Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu. "Passing on savings has never been >> part of Comcast's business model." Monopolies are nice like that. >> >> Despite the innovation in phones, the same is true for mobile internet. >> There are only four major national carriers, most of whom run incompatible >> networks and all of which are stronger in various regions. If you hate your >> Sprint or Verizon service, switching to AT&T or T-Mobile is anything but >> simple and probably requires paying off a two-year contact of some kind. >> (Even T-Mobile, which is aggressively eliminating contracts for service, >> maintains a number of device payment plans that require a contract.) >> Chances are once you've chosen a wired broadband carrier and a wireless >> carrier that works well in your area, you're stuck: there are few other >> places to go, and even if you have choices the high costs of switching mean >> you're not very likely to leave at all. >> >> (And if anyone tries to tell you that ultra-expensive mobile broadband is >> somehow competitive with wired service, ask that person to buy you a nice >> dinner and tell you the story of when they realized dignity had a price. >> You're talking to a cable industry lobbyist; they can afford it.) >> >> What happens in countries where there's real competition? In the UK, where >> incumbent provider BT is required to allow competitors to use its wired >> broadband network, home internet service prices are as low as £2.50 a >> month, or just over $4. In South Korea, where wireless giants SK Telecom >> and LG Uplus are locked in a fierce technology battle, customers have >> access to the fastest mobile networks in the world -- up to 300Mbps, >> compared to a theoretical max of 80Mbps on Verizon that's actually more >> like 15 or 20mbps in the real world. >> >> AMERICANS PAY MORE FOR SLOWER SPEEDS THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD >> And Americans pay more for these slower wireless speeds than anyone else in >> the world: in Germany, where customers can freely switch between carriers >> by swapping SIM cards, T-Mobile customers pay just $1.18 per Mbps of speed. >> In the US, our mostly incompatible wireless networks lock customers in with >> expensive handsets they can't take elsewhere, allowing AT&T and Verizon to >> charge around $4 per Mbps each and Sprint to clock in at an insane $7.50. >> >> American politicians love to stand on the edges of important problems by >> insisting that the market will find a solution. And that's mostly right; we >> don't need the government meddling in places where smart companies can >> create their own answers. But you can't depend on the market to do anything >> when the market doesn't exist. "We can either have competition, which would >> solve a lot of these problems, or we can have regulation," says Aaron. >> "What Comcast is trying is to have neither." It's insanity, and we keep >> lying to ourselves about it. It's time to start thinking about ways to >> actually do something. >> >> [snip] >> >> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/> >> -- >> >> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
