-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 I pretty much totally agree.
The triumverate of Internet rules we need are: * Net Neutrality (either by forcing line-sharing like in the UK, or through direct regulation of carriers on the basis that they receive a massive public subsidy in the form of rights-of-way) * Vuln neutrality: an end to rules like the DMCA (and its global cousins) that prohibit reporting bugs * Rule of law: an end to censorship without court orders (DMCA takedown notices) and without penalty for abuse. Filing a bad-faith takedown should be criminally punishable as perjury, should be grounds for dismissal from the bar (if applicable), and should also be grounds for a civil action with exemplary damages Additionally, national security agencies' primary role should be the strengthening of cyber-security: reporting and patching defects in common OSes and applications, improving cryptographic standards, etc. Cory On 05/03/14 03:16, Udhay Shankar N 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/> > - -- Cory Doctorow docto...@craphound.com For avoidance of doubt: This email does not constitute permission to add me to your mailing list. blog: boingboing.net upcoming appearances: craphound.com/?page_id=4667 books (novels, collections graphic novels, essay collections): craphound.com podcast: feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast latest novel: Homeland craphound.com/homeland latest essays: Context craphound.com/context latest short story collection: With a Little Help craphound.com/walh Join my mailing list and find out about upcoming books, stories, articles and appearances: http://www.ctyme.com/mailman/listinfo/doctorow READ CAREFULLY. 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