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The Net Neutrality Debate Proves The Opinions Are Far From Informed
As many of you know the FCC approved what is now considered the greatest change in the fundamental underpinnings of how the internet will be both used as well as “allowed” to be used. The regulation now known as Net Neutrality will supposedly make the internet more “fair” or “equal” to everyone. All I’ll ask you to ponder is this: How’s your cable bill working out for you?
There’s a lot of known and unknowns still to be had as we sit here today. Why? Regardless of what you’ve heard or seen written in the press about this regulation; no one, and I do mean, no one knows the details to this new and sweeping regulation.
The reported 330-ish paged regulation was held in a way resembling sealed documents from a court case. The only people who read it are those that wrote it, and voted it into law. We now have to wait and see just how much everything changes.
Every future or current business, entrepreneur, as well as individual that accesses the web will be effected. Along with what everyone now takes for granted about the internet will also be changed. How much if any will remain the same, or even possible going forward no one yet knows. And that’s not hyperbole. Everything that one thought they knew or even assumed has now changed. Period.
What took my breath away was just how many bought into the premise that all this was about (as in solely ) was not allowing ISP or cable providers to throttle content. i.e., Not allow a cable provider to charge more to a content provider for faster access to deliver their content and nothing more. And that regulating the internet would now fix this issue.
The discussions and buttressing of arguments based on examples using monopolies and utilities by those pushing for it showed just how ill-informed many of the so-called “experts” were.
Just how little knowledge people have in their fundamental understanding of the differences between a real monopoly and a business impediment was just shocking. Although I shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, this was Silicon Valley where unicorns and rainbows still are accepted business plans for a round of VC funding. (but that window is closing far faster than many realize)
Let me use an example to help illustrate. It’s meant to be over simplistic however, it’s far more instructive (in my opinion) than anything I’ve heard from those who are so-called “experts.”
Regardless of what you may think about your cable company or internet provider (and trust me I have no love for mine) the real issue in the end is what is known as “the last mile.” In other words the underlying issue of speed controls is in direct proportion to the ability for data to pass through efficiently in about the last mile to your home or computer. In other words the issue is basically from the pole to your house. Not from the provider to “the pole.” Again this is an oversimplification so please spare me the emails.
The issue that was becoming relevant to where both sides of the content providers along with the customers found themselves was the bottleneck effect happening at the customer’s home. i.e., within that last mile.
There’s only one way to resolve that issue. One and only one: You must build out the infrastructure to accommodate. And that requires money. Big money. The only question is who pays? You? The cable or ISP provider? Or the content creator. i.e., Netflix™ and others.
Currently the “individual” paying is irrelevant for this argument. No one would solely pay the exorbitant amount of money it would cost on an individual level. That would come later in a collective form of billing such as “service fees” of some sort down the road. So it’s left between the providers.
Contrary to what many are touting, a resolution (a private one as in a business to business decision and agreement) was being worked out. i.e., Netflix and others were in fact sitting down, working out monetary agreements and other particulars as to help remedy many current issues. The real issue was: It wasn’t what “issue politics” wanted. And wanted – “Right now!”
Think about it this way. The electricity coming into your home works generally the same way. And this was used by many as an underpinning of their argument to express the “utility” equivalency discussion. Personally I thought it was the exact argument to show just how little many understood rather than solidify it.
If you want more power into your home guess what? You have to pay for the infrastructure not only at your home (e.g. update your wiring and more) but you also might need to pay for the build out from the pole. If you want or need 3 phase power? You’re going to need to spend money. A lot of money. The power is there but if you want it, you’re going to need to pay.
The infrastructure to carry what you currently have you paid for when the home was built. The electric company didn’t pay, the home builder paid when the home was first constructed. If you want more power? You are going to pay. And here’s where this issue really strike home to the “utility” issue used by so many.
If you don’t like the power companies fees, service, regulations et al. Tough. Because you can’t go around them. You can’t build your own better, more customer friendly or compliant power company. They have a true monopoly. And no matter what you say or do, you are going to pay if it’s decided by the regulating authorities, that no matter what – you are going to pay.
Think not? You can go “off grid” you say? You’ll find a way to “hack.” Not so fast. There are reports nationwide where it is illegal to disconnect your home from the “power” companies. Many are finding themselves facing both criminal as well as monetary charges for trying to “disconnect.” Your cable bill (or broadband) is going to fall into this category in coming years. After all, if it’s now deemed as “utility” status why not? Think it’s just the electricity? How about another “utility?”
Try telling many city governments that you just spent $25,000 to update your septic system to a new state of the art standard so you don’t need to connect to the cities new and improved or proposed sewer system. Ask them why you need to pay for some “special assessment” bill of a few thousand dollars payable in 30 days along with receiving a monthly bill for something you don’t need or use?
The response will be: “Sorry, I just work here. Please pay the bill and make sure your property is accessible for the digging crews to connect your property. Have a nice day.” And that’s just the start. Welcome to the world of “utility.” and “monopoly.” Careful what you wish for – you just might get it!
If you think those in the industry as in “Silicon Valley” have more of an understanding that you or I do. All I’ll do is point you to the most recent as well as instructive or insightful understandings on this issue by one of net neutrality’s foremost cheerleaders.
I suggest you watch this short exchange that took place on CNBC™ as to why this must take place and why its necessary for the good of the internet. Then ask yourself this question: The internet just moved from anything you knew it to be, into something no one has any understanding or clue as to what it will morph into from here. All based on a movement propelled on the understandings and insights professed by so-called “experts” as those in this video.
Personally I am stunned on just how little of an understanding of business those in Silicon Valley have. Yet maybe I shouldn’t be. For there is no where else a business can be worth billions in market cap that either can’t turn a profit, or better yet, can’t keep a customer if they so dare as to charge a penny.
But that’s now all about to change too. Because once new “regulation” concerns become part of the mix Wall Street has to think about when deciding who, what, or where will the hot money (if there’s any left) will flow: Silicon Valley is going to find itself with not as much love as they once garnered. For nothing snuffs out the spark of VC free money for “hacking” or lets say “Innovation” like the threat and over arching hand – of regulation. Welcome to the land of utilities. Hope you like the new neighborhood.
Forget about the once “wild west” of hackers. That’s just been handed its death knell by their own hands. For one thing that’s far mightier than a coders hack is a government bodies decree of regulation. There’s no neutrality nor nothing “free” once you allow and call for the interjection and oversight of both the government along with its enforceable hand of law via regulations.
Just wait until all the details become known as well as imposed. I have a feeling net neutrality is going to feel a whole lot more like “net injustice” than anyone dared contemplate. Let alone imagined
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Ive been agreeing with you for yrs now....
I'm SERIOUS about this comment...
For the first time, I'm starting to FEAR that these types of things need to start getting organized...
I fully realize that stating this [on a blog], in of itself, is a red flag, but I think that certain 'folks' really need to start getting organized... I'm on the farming/agriculture/handyman side, so these technical things are still somewhat foreign to me.
Organization leads down a bad road.
Most of the tech needed, is already in the wild. Give this some time, it will become more relevant once regulation puts a squeeze on. It will reveal itself when the time comes.
Ok fine...
If I have to devote more time to 'trappers', then so be it if 'coders' turn out to be the pussies that they are in this moment...
Don't be an asshole. If you would be a coder you would know that the best tech is open source, free and available in the wild on the web.Here you are trying to sound smart for some unknown reason.
I'm DOING THE EXACT FUCKING OPPOSITE OF TRYING TO SOUND 'SMART' here...
Instead ~ I'm pleading for HELP, and making the subtle suggestion that 'CODERS' [whose contributions to the world, may be, perhaps, USELESS, in a post apocalyptic society, LIFT A FUCKING FINGER at this juncture, and 'TEAM' with other 'folks' who know how to ACTUALLY DO SHIT [like farm, machine, & other useful things that anyone that gets their coffee every day at STARBUCKS has never even heard of].
If you're so arrogant as to NOT give a FF... Then go back to your geek world [& hope you you have a freezerful of HOTPOCKETS, as well as electricity to power the freezers, when TSHTF]...
IOW ~ Suck my balls dweeb... I don't need your faggot ass...
ok, sorry, I overreacted a bit. I kind of had my troll detector on and you were clearly there.sorry. my fault.
No problem...
I'm somewhat SERIOUS here...
Geekers... Farmers... Machinists... & otherwise HANDYMEN need to begin to unite here...
EscapeKey is going out of his way to disqualify himself from that conclave...
There are alternatives currently in existence and more on the way.
Some are open source.
What's with all the love for "open source" software? I hate to be the one to break it to you, but open source software is just as prone to vulnerabilities as any proprietary code. Remember the relatively recent problem with OpenSSL? That was open source, and the vulnerability had been around quite a while. Someone developed it, it seemed to work just fine, and tons of people adopted it. But they never checked the code! Because it WORKED and was USED EVERYWHERE, so it must have been OK. Until it wasn't.
Don't get me wrong, I love open source stuff. I've gotten some of my best ideas perusing other people's code. But just because it's open source doesn't mean it's necessarily trustworthy.
Speak english asshole.
Did you mean "where can I learn how to give them the finger"?
The problem you're going to have is that the folks who know how to code know that net neutrality is a good thing. It's what will prevent Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and every other ISP from deciding what websites you're allowed to see and how quickly pages on those sites go for you. If you go to tech sites, you may see some people concerned about the implementation, but techies are celebrating and massive proponents of net neutrality.
Where is any evidence of this? I know plenty of coders who would argue this point.
BTW, most tech sites are mainly cell phone reviews, it's what sells ads.
"It's what will prevent Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and every other ISP from deciding what websites you're allowed to see"
By letting fedgov take control of the internet as a utility? Sounds legit...
If you think that net neutrality will be the result of this usurpation of power your are a fool. Sure, Comcast may not be ablt ot charge Netflix, but the FCC will damn sure suppress ZH.
I don't know what the hell you're on about. I strongly suspect you don't either. Ie:
Net neutrality = the web works the way it has this far. Throttling of sites is what Comcast etc wants to cram down your throat, so they can charge you for the Comcast+ package which includes an additional 50 websites, or the Ultra package if you actually want to browse "esoteric" content. Ie Zero Hedge.
Discussions about 'CODE' protocols are somewhat a waste of time... It's time for the GEEKS to hit the pavement here and endeavor to produce INTERNET 2.
Go ahead & junk me... But while you do, realize that HAM RADIO expertise is gonna supplant your 1's & 0's soon... [or, maybe they won't ~ but do you want to take that chance]?
HAM radio? Fucking lol. A few years back I discussed the likelihood of Carrington events with Akak here on ZH, who with his warped perspective was convinced it would hit us any minute. When I quoted actual statistics, he went increasingly more outlandish and crazy, obviously citing no sources, basing his ludicrious belief on rhetoric alone.
Compared to that, "HAM radio" seems somewhat sane.
OK fine...
I learned something today...
I've learned cancelled ONE 'tech saavy douche' from my list that I, or anyone, could count on, to HELP people morph from INTERNET to INTERNET2...
Because it would appear that all the fuck you know haow to do is to suck off the tit of the thoroughly captured INTERNET as it stands today & pass yourself off as a cybergeek
I don't go for "cybergeek". I go for "somewhat informed". Clearly, that's not something you strive for.
Correct ~ I could give a FF about 1's & 0's...
Sure ~ I drop comments on ZH... But when that possibility, perhaps, ceases to exist, I can move on with no problem...
Good luck growing your dandelions [and even if you succeed, which, trust me, isn't that that hard, trying to figure out what to do with them].
Grow dandelions? Nah that won't happen - and I don't think they'll stock those in my local Waitrose or Sainsbury's anytime soon either.
Ah well, perhaps you should have a chat with Akak. I think you'd get along well. He could teach you all about the upcoming Carrington event - which won't happen. And you can teach him about using HAM Radios - which won't be necessary.
WTFever...
You know? Somebody like yourself might really have the chance to make use of his/her talents on a space like this...
INSTEAD???
A topic like this pops up, whereby, you could really make some hay, & what do you do?
You WASTE it... Because you you think GEEK SUPERIORITY overrules the laws of nature [which, your geekness, apparently, makes you immune to].
You had your chance & you fumbled the 'HOTPOCKET'... Sayonara chumpster!
And the link/reference would be where?!
Maybe if we all spoke in Spanish they would leave our Spanish Website all alone.
And actually you could get away with not learning Spanish if you just cut and paste in a translator (maybe)
Zero Hedge would write new code that would allow you to type in English and the translator program would post comments in Spanish. Then you could use Google Translate for the whole page.
-
Nerds might do the same thing, but translate into machine language or something. Type in English, posted in ASCII or something.
I'm not quite sure why you would want to do an "end run" around net neutrality. You mean you want to code something that will allow the ISPs to limit your access to the Internet or completely block certain sites? I think you're confused.
the whole conversation is a mute point.... net neutrality is just a nice word for censorship chinese style and when it becomes madate to run 24/7 monitored webcams in your home, disconnecting will become illegal...
in fact now the internet is regulated they can do whatever they can get away with......
This is just borderline crazy territory.
Educate yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
You're using Wikipedia as a reference to "educate somebody". Now that's fucking funny.
lol. Doc , her eyes have opened markedly over the last year. She's making progress.
You do realize that Wikipedia has beaten Encyclopedia Brittanica in sample tests in terms of accuracy, right?
No? I guess not.
But I guess I'm not as cool and wildly intelligent as those who *need no references*. Oh hang on, you provided jack shit to back up your assertion.
http://www.zmescience.com/science/study-wikipedia-25092014/
97.5% accurate.
http://www.livescience.com/32950-how-accurate-is-wikipedia.html
Equal accuracy to Encyclopedia Brittanica.
Need I go on? No? OK, feel free to post bullshit rhetoric in response.
I'll look at your links because of your personal convictions.
I believe in personal convictions, backed by explainable truths.
That's what SCOTUS does?
YC ~ Don't waste your time with this dweeb...
I agree. Waste it on perfecting your HAM radio skill set instead. It'll come in handy when the Carrington event strikes.
Escape Key is well versed.
97.5% accuracy is shitty.
Latest paper Encyclopedia Britannica is over 32,000 pages.
2.5% inaccurate is 800 pages. Not insignificant.
Now, imagine if those 800 pages are all about Israel, Palestine, Middle East, the real orgin of Jews, Muslims (not Israel but Caucausus according to DNA models).
Then imagine a fading superpower relying on those 800 pages (because the DOD heard Mossad and the CIA support Wikipedia so it *must* be right)
That explains the clusterfuck of US foreign policy in the ME.
Then, trying to corrrect those Wiki pages=impossible
For kicks, look at the editors of the Ashkenazi Jew pages and you will see how anything but the party line wont fly. (Hint: they're ALL JEWS)
When you factor in online vandals and running information change, 97.5% is actually pretty good. It certainly is compared to the average unsourced claim here on ZH. Except when it comes to operation of HAM radios and Carrington events, of course. We have experts on those matters around here, and I wouldn't take anyone elses word on those.
Anyway, jesting aside - Encyclopedia Britannica is the gold standard in this regard. And their score equals Wikipedias according to the link I provided.
97.5% accuracy means nothing. I'm interested in comparing the 2.5% that both Wikipedia and EB get "wrong".
Which is more politically biased? Which one throws things down the "memory hole" to fit an agenda?
We all can agree that the sky is blue and that grass is green. I'm sure everybody on earth agrees on 97.5% of everything.
It's the 2.5% that gets interesting.
Way over the border crazy is to think that a problem created by LOCAL governments (monopoly franchise) will be solved by FEDERAL government grabbing power unlawfully. Your trust in the benificence of the feds is .... cute. Kind of like watching the downs syndrome guy rounding up carts at the grocery store.
If you like your internet, you can.. . .go fuck yourself.. . You can bet this has nothing to do with net neutrality, especially with the rumors of Georgio behind it financially and the other bilionaire techies getting a peek at the language before it becomes law. This is the pinnacle of laws being formed by the rich for the rich completely bypassing our representative form of goverment.
You can bet that if the government is involved, they will not just "equalize" net acces but will "control" its distribution and eventually its content. Somewhere along the line they will certainly TAX it.
The gov already monitors the Internet without this new ruling.
This just means that the Internet will be regulated more like telephone service, but without rate caps. Will there be surcharges in the future in order to expand Internet now that its a universal service? Maybe in the future. But the ISPs have been raising their rates regularly anyway, since there a de facto monopoly.
You're dreamin sheep-in-the-headlights, Monitoring is one thing, controlling content is another. When .GOV is involved ALways understand that the empirical rule is CONTROL! Wake up Sleeping Spinone.
This is just the end of commercial innovation phase (20 years), no more growth in the internet business, customer base stagnates or declines, no more IT Ponzi schemes for Wall Street.
Now we are entering monopolistic/oligopolistic phase designed to load remaining internet users with as much crap as possible even temporarily lowering prices and improve quality to attract those masses abandoning ATV and CATV.
This is not victory for true internauts celebrating total freedom and openness but rather slow death of freedom of internet by insidious methods of Title II FCC forbearance and righteous censorship of blogosphere. Read message carefully.
Again those net neutrality activists were just pones in the game of content providing giants like Google. Internet should be run by down to earth community of internauts, corporate types excluded. Let them build their own "cable-like" networks and keep hands off our internet founded with our tax money and not by Apple's money since they are tax dodgers.
Of course proposed alternative was worse just for contrast.
This will be a tool for the supression of political dissent - all else is distraction.
The way the fucking "free the internet" retards are cheering this move is amazing. They fall for the same liberty stealing shit every time. Problem is we have to live with the government worshipping douchebags.
Net Neutrality may be the move that sparked the American revolution and motivated we Americans to take up arms against our oppressors. I hope so.
Nah...
whats on TV tonight?
Watching TV is prohibited here on ZH. This is last warning.
T'sOK, I ain't gonna watch TV here...'cept for the occasional CNBC clip, and like such.
A troll with access to three different IPs is posting three downvotes on all the smartest comments
And yet, FFtF (Fight For the Future) who mounted a big campaign declared victory. Because they beat the big money interest lobby. Yeah, ok. I guess they don't read the internet for analysis of how this isn't so shiny and neat. I'm wary...
(You just beat my post, Engali.)
The U.S. Government will curtail free speech using there BS regulation the same way Russia and China do. They shut web-sites down that they don’t like. If they don’t like you then you are labeled a dissident and shut out of all access. This is how they will shove social-engineering down our throats.
ADOLPH OBAMA knows he must control the media before he comes for your guns.....Same thing Hitler did.
Same old same old. What you will find is that some will be a lot more neutral than others and of course it will be directly related to their ability to influence elected officials. Totally counter to what net neutrality should be and mean. Our government can't run a website for Obolacare and they're gonna run the internet? It is simply NOT possible. This law has a back door for money to corrupt the system I would bet my left kidney onit. Don't be dense and even petend otherwise.
ugh, that CNBC link was brutal to watch with all the condensing remarks
I couldn't even finish it. I was absolutely cringing with embarrassment at the unabashed idiocy of this guy who runs a multi-billion dollar company who didn't seem to have the common sense to be embarrassed for himself.
PS: Spellcheck can be a bitch, but I knew what you meant.
Seriously, I mean this very seriously, if they fuck with the younger generations porn, that might actually inspire political radicalization.
Come to think of it that's going to be a fun fight to watch. There's going to be some scalded Baptist asses in this country when they have to actually speak up and publically admit that yeah, they look at porn too, and will you turn it back on please?
Required Registration to " Basement Porn" won't play well with the millennials.
Too much of the 'return' of the Internet is going to firms like Netflix. Not enough to the legitimate investors and owners of the infrastructure. This so-called "net neutrality" seeks to destroy the real owners and investors in the Internet, to favour the non-investors such as Google and Netflix. Something tells me that the outcome is going to be incredibly bad for the economy.
50,000 B.C. - Man shelters in caves.
2050 A.D. - Man hides in caves.
"The reported 330-ish paged regulation was held in a way resembling sealed documents from a court case. The only people who read it are those that wrote it, and voted it into law."
Not the way an open government operates.
Looks like just another Federal Government power grab. Funny that the people think they run this Democracy when they and their reps can't even see what they are voting on - like the Trans "GMO & Web police" Trade Partnerships recently rejected by the rest of the world.
Of course this new "FCC Big Government Service" will probably find a way to save the public from offenders like Zero Hedge and other "alternative thruther" sites and shut them down as they are converting believers against the Establishment.
No one? The big telecoms must know and they are apoplectic. So how bad can it be? Oh yeah, around here the "government" can do no right and giant corporations can do no wrong. Got it.
I hope nobody here is surprised by this.
people are (for the most part) STUPID.
nobody pays attention..and even if they did..nobody cares. (well not enough to make a difference).
sad thing is- they WILL get it someday (well most will). theyll understand just fine, when its all over and painfully obvious. and then guess what? too late. well ALL be on welfare and so dependent on these fuckers that we CANT get rid of em.
And you say washington is full of idiots?... the plan seems to be coming along just fine. (even when the 'net' wasn't 'neutral')
yikes
one of the guys from the fec who voted down this shit was warning weeks ago the commies were going to force something through without letting anybody read it. Use it to neuter the leftist media.
How the hell can you dominate the world when you are cold-busted the second your lies hit the internet?
I miss my friend. His mind has withered away to almost nothing. The worst part is, it's not a physical illness. He is lazy, and borderline refuses to leave her house. His girlfriend supposedly has a form of brain damage on the books, and her daughter is a real prize. Is it possible for two persons to share an IQ of 38? The daughter got knocked up and had a child, them moved out on her own for 3 months, but had to return because....she was too busy/forgot to fill out her public assistance paperwork. Now that she is back, its a little better, somewhat. Now my friend has stopped trying to create new excuses as to why he cant leave, or go look for a job that offers more than 14 hours a week. He is now a professional babysitter. Not his kid, or even his grandchild, but come hell or high water, he is not going to budge.
Bills are late almost every month. Excess falls on the credit card balance that is carried until tax "refund" rolls around, at which time the process starts over, carrying a balance until the next refund. It is a perpetual system of self sustaining stupidity.
"Do you have Netflicks?"
"No", I reply. "For the fifteenth time. I didn't have it last month, the month before that, or plans for next month."
"Oh......" And then the starry-eyed 'I just got hit by a bus' type of look.
I think its time to say goodbye to you, my old friend. I will miss who you used to be.
What I WON'T miss are his fucking World-Of-Warcraft stories. With some clever questioning, I can deduce that he spends a minimum of 3 hours a day playing online games, that require a subscription. The emotion and zeal in which he relays his triumphs makes me want to barf. You know that gritty felling on your teeth after vomiting? Somehow I have developed a Pavlovian reaction to these stories that manages to secrete stomach bile from my gums.
I am tired of my life being polluted with lazy, victimized, self-propelled idiocy.
Sorry for your loss. I am going thru something similar. Over ten years being friends who will not see wtc seven collapsed at free fall speed. To me the importance is staggering, to my friend it is impossible due to the implications.
The more you grow the more you have to change your life, or your growth will stop and you will end up on WOW.
I work for a power company. A large integrated one. And what I find is that there has been one reason alone for these companies to push for their regulated utilities: they don't want to depreciate their assets as quickly. That is the entirety of the scheme. Large capital assets need to be paid for. No doubt.
You need to make enough money to cover your capex and your OPEx with a decent return to boot. But these people want those returns guaranteed. In perpituity. It's that simple. And I'd imagine that the broadband space was looking at the next wave of development that was going to force a write down of the longer lived capital assets in place. That next wave of develop might still come. With return guaranteed. And it's likely to be OVER built. Why not? Your returns are guranteed. Lever up!
But the depreciation of long lived capital assets is always what the central planners could never wrap their heads around and never will because they have no competitive price signals. You won't realize how obsolete the infrastructure is until the next one has already much surpassed it.
The power industry is the perfect example. Particularly the TVA. So ridiculously overbuilt and capital thrown away decades ago. They still don't use all the power they built for 70 years ago. There are 60 year old coal plants in Ohio and PA that still demanding their "reliability" tariffs to squeeze the last bit out of obsolete technology.
Thats the real problem. No disruptive technology is allowed to displace the .1%
Even the most interesting man in the world was stopped in his attempt to sell Teslas online. (IOW, Ford, GM, Chrysler prefer brick and mortar as it is more expensive and thus they can hire more family and friends}.
The internet is "bad" for government. Thus government "must" control the internet ... and "citizens" (government's supposed rulers) must not allow them to do that.
Just like they try to control what we say and the freedoms we have in the name of "protecting the children" ... "protecting the weak", etc., they will use that ploy here also.
The link claims the problem is "the last mile". It is not. Anyone can build out the last mile and/or go around the last mile that already exists. The problem is "the backbone".
20 years ago the technology made a wrong turn ... and that turn was made consciously by the carriers because it guaranteed their role as the "backbone provider".
Before the internet even existed, data moved by ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Method). Layer 1 is the physical layer (wires, fiber, micro wave, radio, coax, etc). ATM was at layer 2. It allowed a single wire (single physical mode) to be multiple virtual wires. It was initially geared for voice with TDM (Time Division Multiplexing).
Then came IP (Internet Protocol). It was a layer 3 protocol. It ran over ATM. As the physical layers became orders of magnitude faster and more pervasive yet more concentrated, it became possible to run IP without ATM. But this was only possible if you had a backbone to make the long links. For example, to run VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) you must deliver packets "in order" in less than 1/8th of a second. For many many technical reasons, IP was only able to do this in 20 hops or less. If you were slower than that the conversations were too annoying to sell. A coast to coast backbone eliminates lots of intermediary nodes.
If they stayed with ATM, ATM could easily deliver the packets through it's cell mechanism for virtual circuits making 20,000 and more hops to IP's 20. Thus, a backbone wasn't necessary ... and ultimately the carriers weren't necessary. ATM had two designed in provisioning techniques: PVC (Permanent Virtual Circuit) and SVC (Switched Virtual Circuits). The carriers used PVCs. They manually provisioned each new link and each capacity requirement. SVCs allowed this to be done dynamically under computer control with real time load sensing. The carriers didn't use it, but a backbone replacement (like a mesh network using UWB (Ultrawide band) at layer 1 for more speed at lower power) sure would.
Since then the IP nodes have become more and more complicated (which companies like Cisco loved) and the technology changes required a truck roll and hardware swap out every three years or so to embrace it. MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) is one such protocol. Guess what it does? It makes IP look like ATM ... but only at carrier controlled nodes. There were other protocols like IPSEC (IP Security) required to deal with IP's natural "in the open" characteristics. I once counted six separate complicated protocols employed to do what ATM did naturally.
Personally I see three issues: (1) Speed, (2) Privacy, (3) Content. I think people should pay for the speed they require and that is easily done with ATM (different pipes have different costs and different characteristics ... all running over the same physical layer). I will sacrifice speed all day long for privacy and freedom to say what I want, when I want, and about whoever I want.
Net neutrality is the camel's nose under the tent. Content censorship is the camel in the tent.
You can't tell a bill by its name ... Net Neutrality (we won't know what it is until we pass it) and the USA PATRIOT act are obvious cases in point.
the thing i don't get is why everyone has to be wired up to everything. its like a highway engineer in america deciding he needs an offramp to bejing at every intersection. seems that if they removed the redundancy of content they could provide better sovereign controls, and that would put more bandwidth for local users. the essence of the global village is that our world gets smaller. a few years ago the concept of satelitte internet was the next big thing. the user would receive the signal wirelessly, but transmit out over the landline, where speed is less important. as far as privacy goes, i am guessing that their emphasis is on the received signal, they care more about what you watch than what you actually say, or transmit. if they know what you are logged onto they know who you are. although it is probably easier for them to throw a net over the landline system. if both systems are different that creates more problems for them.
There are many many issues.
Satelites have a built in latency issue. Light only travels at 300,000,000 meters per second and to make two hops, that light travels 50,000 miles for satellite (with low Earth orbit that reduces to 300 miles but takes many more satellites). I am off the grid and initially had satellite internet ... both up and down ... but it was slow. I later switched to cellular and now enjoy 4G speeds.
Upload speeds are always slower than download speeds for anything wireless (except mesh wireless). This is because on upload, all signals are converging and interferring with each other. On download, the signals naturally diverge and interfere less. Upload is about 1/10th as fast as download.
With a mesh network, every cell phone can become a node. Thus no carrier is required at all. This can be done today with off the shelf components. As they try to strangle the internet, I guarantee it "will" be done clandestinly.
A neat feature of a mesh network is, as the nodes concentrate, they "increase" the capacity. Thus, at a rock concert or in an emergency situation, communications can actually get better.
This too will pass. This is one technology no government can control.
Google was just spying for such WIFI ad hoc inter-networks for NSA when they were caught trying to crack into one of them.
US military electronic surveillance command has such capabilities and are doing it abroad but is still shy to do domestically so NSA created Google and other spying balloons of hot air and we got billed.
what does download time matter 50000 miles or 300? the commercial value of the internet is at stake here, otherwise why would you need 4G speeds? (so you can download an ad filled browser?) i suppose people believe that downloading porno is freedom somehow. so what are these off the shelf components, and what is the mesh network, because (as i alluded to) secure local networks have a great deal of appeal.
Distance means latency. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second so it takes over 1/3 second just to travel. For voice, the maximum tolerable latency is 1/8th second. So geostationary satellites don't do voice well. Also, the farther you go the weaker your signal gets (by the cube of the distance).
Why do you need 4G speeds: For YouTube for one. I download YouTube content and play it back at 2x real time. Thus I get through the material twice as fast. I can view MIT classes. I can view non-MSM censored video of things like the Boston bombing.
Downloading porno "is" freedom. Downloading a tent revival meeting is too.
Off the shelf components: There used to be an ATM chip set. They've gone out of business because their protocol got squashed by the carriers and Cisco, However, you can buy products like FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) that have SoC (System on a Chip) ARM processors on them. With these devices you can "emulate" and expand what those ATM chips did 10 years ago. You can program them in seconds to do almost anything you want them to do. You can buy GPS chip sets for under $5 (but you probably wouldn't want to fix a design on them as the government controls the satellites).
A "mesh" network is one that forms itself. Using UWB you can transmit 1,000 feet legally (much farther cooperatively, albeit illegally) at multiples of 4G speed at a fraction of 4G power. If you have a node every 1,000 feet or less apart, you can jump from node to node to get where you want to go. The military has this technology in troop helmets. The network forms up automatically so conceptually any troop can talk to any other troop in perfect privacy. The UWB signals are "impossible" to tap and so weak they are almost impossible to detect ... they look like background noise. The technology is DSSS (Discrete Sequence Spread Spectrum) and was invented by actress Hedy Lamarr during WW2 to prevent enemy disruption of guidance signals for torpedoes.
This technology can easily be incorporated into smart phones right now. Smart phones are totally programmable devices. There are lots of people out there right now who know how to program them. Except for iPhones, they run on LINUX which is "open source".
Good stuff. This is just one of examples of abandoning or suppressing certain network/internet technologies developed by initial ARPA technology push in 1950-ties. What at the beginning was planned as dedicated military internet connecting command and control centers with web of networks developed to withstand nuclear attacks was designed without any privacy concerns built-in due to fully envisioned closed self-powered and physically secured circuits. IP was a good choice for the purpose of nuclear war but precludes privacy by design.
It is no accident that this type TCP/IP internet was commercialized. What's interesting that backbone was not in original ARPA design for Internet since it is concentrated infrastructure easy to destroy.
You need a vacation.
Net Neutering !
Your understanding of Net Nuetrality is based on no actual knowledge of its history or purpose. Network Neutrality is a very simple concept that has been a cornerstone of the system since its inception. I know this because I have been working in the bowels of the system as a net engineer since 1982. The drivel spouted about this issue by politicians, pundits, and johnny come lately ass hats shows a complete ignorance of the origin of neutrality and why it is fundamental to the design of the network.
Any company is free to develop its own network and provide TCP/IP services as it sees fit to anyone willing to pay for that service. Nothing changes. Neutrality only kicks in when you connect to the shared system of packet distribution, and there are really good technical reasons why this is so.
From the beginning, if you wanted to connect your network to the government built, government operated, and government subsidized internet, you had to agree to not block, filter, or degrade delivery of common traffic across the network. (Companies like Comcast did not invent, nor did they expand upon the system core. They simply connected to it.)
Last mile companies are allowed to charge end users whatever the free market might bear to cover cost of operations. This has always been true.
What is often forgotten in this silly argument about access is that there are three entities making a payment for access to the top level backbone services which are provided by companies like Level 3, Verio, Cogent, GTT, NTT etc. etc.
Funny how you never hear any whining from these companies about peering agreements. They all adhere to neutrality agreements because if they didnt, there would be no Internet.
Anyway the three income streams we care about are as follows:
1. The consumer who pays through the nose for the connection and bandwidth, at insane rates, compared to the cost. Look at Comcast quarterlies and say no more.
2. The distribution service providers like Comcast, Cox, TW, small potato cable provider. They pay to access this top level ring to move their traffic around.
3. The Wireless providers, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T Mobile, and a host of runner ups, who pay to access this top level ring.
So there it is, all the pipe providers and consumers pay to access a common top level ring of services. And consumers, we pay the most of all.
When I hear Comcast whining about carriage fees for Netflix my blood boils. I already pay them to deliver any and all traffic I request at the fastest speed possible that their crappy network can deliver. They are making money hand over fist already, and when they shape my access to the system for competitive reasons (protecting cable monopoly) they are turning their backs to the core principle of equal access that EVERYONE IS PAYING FOR ALREADY.
You hear this out and out lie about how the future of upgrades to the network depend on companies ablity to sell higher levels of service at greater levels of profit. What this means is that if you want access to fast services, PAY MORE, but if you can't pay, well then we have a model T shaped service you can use.
But that doesn't work if the top level ring shared by all is a mish mash of varying competitively driven service offerings. Some will find the network great, the majority who cannot pay for faster access will not find it better at all.
And the worst part of the entire deal is that NONE OF THE PROVIDERS are moving traffic at anywhere near half of their capacity. Moving packets on the network is not an issue and will never be one. Your being lied to by Comcast when they make the claim that Netflix is taxing their network. THAT IS A TOTAL LIE. They operate at about 20% capacity now.
AND WE PAY FOR THAT ACCESS ALREADY. They never mention that fact that the incredible profits they make are based on a network operating at less than 20% capacity.
The internet that we know today offers EVERYONE a voice. In a non nuetral network, that will not be true.
These cable operators, who don't even run the top level rings, are dictating your access speeds, and filtering content that they don't want, and are doing so more and more.
They are not neutral.
Think about a site like this one not being able to operate in the future, because some amount of protest about Comcast or TW mergers in comments or post offends some buttwipe executive. This will happen without nuetrality rules. It already does happen.
Some idiot wrote a bunch of drivel in Forbes about how this concept of neutrality will kill the Internet. It is just the opposite, if we don't force companies to agree to equal carraige of packets, especially since we already pay through the nose for it, then you can be sure that a tiered usage Internet will negatively affect commerce world wide when nuetrality is abandoned for corporate profits.
And keep in mind, from day one of the net, nuetrality has been a standard part of peering agreements and only in the last 4 years has it become an issue, and this is precisely because the corporations who at one time came begging with hat in hand to be part of this idea, now want to shit on the users, and create an unequal playing field in order to hold consumers hostage.
That is exactly what is happening and it will only get worse if it isn't stopped now.
The author proves his Title's point. His opinion is far from informed....
I agree. These are just thieving oligarchs robbing people blind.
This is shame that in God forsaken village in France you get minimum 100 MB/s symmetric for $12. In cities 0.3-1 GB/s for $25-$35 is common, I will not mention Asia. America is technological empire of stone age that sacrificed most of its finest engineers on altar of oligarch's gluttony.
And now you have; Net Neutrality (good) + Title II FCC forbearance (bad) = monopolistic shit nothing;
Good post, SM.
I know the author needed and example to show the evil of utility's. He is similarly incorrect. I have connected hundreds of houses. Every hook up I made was overbuilt in capacity to burn his house to the ground. Sometimes transformes are a bit small but often can run easily at 50% over rated cap.
There are different providers of power as well. The REA, now the RUS was developed to bring power to remote homes to get the advantage of electricity to those "off the grid" or for refrigeration. Many of those hook ups were for around 10 dollars at incredible cost. That infrastructure cost a bundle. Where the price goes through the roof is when it was deregulated as in Enron. They raped California and PGE in Portand to tears.
The utility's, and I've worked for many, deliver a real fair priced product. As far as customers not legally being able to disconnect from the grid, I've got to call bullshit. What the power company's don't want is the user going back and forth willy nilly. I think mostly that is fair enough. They build out the system for peak load. When everybody wants to cook dinner at the same time the system has to provide it reasonably. The privates cost around double. I think there is confusion between a power company and a muni sewer water system. There are reasonable ties that bind if you want to live in the city. Move out to the bush and have a well, septic and windmill if that makes you feel like your off the grid. But don't forget that dish hanging off the side of the barn so your kids can text all the time.
He doesn't have a good knowledge or example about how the power grid works, imo.
It is nice of you to tell us your concept of Net Neutrality. I am happy for you that you were able to project your understanding of this to the FCC to make you comfortable with a power gra. Now, please refer to the page and paragraph in the 337 pages of rules taht remain hidden that demonstrates that your fantasy world of Net Neutrality is what the FCC intends.
Wake up.
Not my concept at all.
I suggest you learn about Vint Cerf, Bob Metcalf, Jon Postel, Leonard Kleinrock, J.C.R. Licklider, Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, and MIT researcher Lawrence G. Roberts.
A fundamental requirement of indpendence in a TCP/IP network is nuetrality. Without it there is no internet.
Perhaps a few hours browsing http://faqs.org would lift you out of your paranoid delusion that the governement is going to ruin the Internet. The government invented it.
DARPA anyone?
(in raspy voice) net neutrality's just another word for ... nothin' left to tax....
h/t Jqnis Joplin
Back to reading manifestos on hand out pamplets bitchez.
the real scandal is, that nobody knows the details.
hundreds of years ago, the church wouldnt allow the people to learn reading, nowadays, people can read, so they just do it all behind closed doors.
I think this sums it up (you won't regret watching this, I promise.....)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdzeBc0oqao
It's a Trojan Horse.
Who gets to define the Legal controls & context ?
There is your answer....
Sheeple, it's what's for Dinner.
As the great Taylor Swift said once, Sheep are gonna bah, bah, bah
It's another jewish scheme. They control TV and radio and they have to control the independent thinkers and researchers on the net.
http://www.dailystormer.com/evil-sith-lord-jew-george-soros-financing-pu...
You will get fucked coming and going and that is all she wrote.
Incidentally, while we squander our public funds on bombs and bullshit, the rest of the world is busy doing things like building state of the art fiber infrastructure to everyones door.
America, building more bombs for future generations.
Billy, WTF?
I've travsersed)the planet to help others. Give your Father some love.
I desp(s)ize my father. UGLY
William, your art is beautiful.
Everyone arguing over this shell game issue is being played. This is a shell game like all the other issues that divide the people. The damn ball went through the hole a long time ago, it doesn't matter which shell you choose, the ball will never be there! Time to build our own way.
I'm really disturbed by the fact that we no longer have 3 branches of government. What the hell happened? Everyone is now so distracted or overworked, that they no longer pay attenition.
What the FUCK!
Every last Motherfucker in office needs to be voted out!
That will never happen. It is all just so sad.
SH
Shit gets real when you have kids. They are my only concern at this point.
SH
Interesting article
Comrades for Net NeutralityRead more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414483/comrades-net-neutrality-joh...
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414483/comrades-net-neutrality-joh...
keep abreast of censorship thinking in England for a clue to what is coming to USA...
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/05/insurance-firm-busted-breas...
I'm not sure how I feel about this bill. I do know that I pay for a level of service I never get. When I complain, I'm told, "It says 'up to 7mb down...' " but it's almost always in the 1-2mb range. I'm willing to pay for what I use. But I don't get it. I'm being defrauded. If I did it, I'd go to jail.
When people are telling me it's better to let the biggest telecoms dictate what I can use and how I can use it and how much I have to pay, while they use their lobbying to put the power of government on their side to charge me for a level of service their own speed tests tell me they aren't providing, I don't believe them. It's disheartening that the only alternative available is to let the FCC run the show.
At least the FCC can be bribed. I'm not sure whom to bribe at the telecoms, and I don't have enough money to make any bribe I'd offer them interesting enough to persuade them to provide me with even the level of service I'm paying for.
You get screwed in this matter because your local authorities granted monopoly franchises. It can be corrected locally.
We,Be tired and shit bitchez
We net neutralized some folks...
The big story here is that Now Government is involved in making rules for the internet. Get ready for State and Federal internet tax.
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The filthy head of the FCC refused to discuss his scheme with Congress.
Our feckless bought-off Congress allowed the filthy head of the FCC to get away with this.
The filthy head of the FCC is an ankle-grabbing lobbyist whore for the cable/internet service providers.
He is also a big-time bag man for Obama campaign money.
What could go wrong?
Folks you only need to look at one thing to understanda this. CMCSK, TWC, CHTR. stocks are all up. None of this matters to the cable guys. NFLX is up too. this changes nothing. Perhaps a lost opportunity for cable and NFLX but nothing changes.
Just another nail in the coffin.