FCC Passes Net Neutrality

[GoIrish41]

A couple pages back, I argued that-- given the massive expense of building and maintaining infrastructure-- the only options are: (1) to nationalize the network and force carriers to compete on service alone (as most of Europe has done); or (2) to regulate them like public utilities so they don't dick over their customers.

The FCC opted for (2). Most of the dissent in this thread has come from those advocating a mythical libertarian 3rd option, in which the massive barriers to entry in this market magically cease to exist following deregulation, competition thrives, and everyone uses their now bountiful bandwidth to illegally pirate Atlas Shrugged.

 

[ND NYC]

curious why do you consider that speedtest a red herring?

ps just took test again....speeds dramatically reduced down to 3mbps download and 3mbps upload...WTH??

 

[Huntr]

curious why do you consider that speedtest a red herring?

ps just took test again....speeds dramatically reduced down to 3mbps download and 3mbps upload...WTH??

Because your speed at any random time ain't the issue.

And he knows that.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Rumors have swirled since Tesla's death that his inventions would have modernized mankind much faster if allowed to see the light of day. It is also rumored that JP Morgan purchased his research papers upon death and has never shared it with the public.

I have no idea whether that is true, just relaying a story I have read/heard several times in historical biographies about him.

The big thing JP Morgan did is pull the funding plug, just as Nikola Tesla was getting going. There were a group that played pool, drank, womanized, and shot not yet illegal drugs. The group changed membership over the years. It included Harvey Firestone, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison. Some called the exclusive group formed by Firestone, Ford, and Edison, "The Millionaire's Club."

At one time everyone listed was involved in some part. In the fifty years after the Civil War, they turned a mostly bankrupt fledgling republic into the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. These guys made decisions that were not always recorded by history, influenced it, and the development of our nation more that almost anything we read in the history books.

They hand picked the direction our industrial and technical innovation took. With Edison involved, JP Morgan dropped the floor out from under everything Tesla was doing. Edison backed Marconi's radio waves, and after Tesla helped Edison with some of his AC issues, he turned on Tesla. Tesla favored communication through electrical frequency, not radio waves. With Tesla's system energy and communications could have been transmitted through the earth.

The problems with this were there weren't enough marketable inventions to capitalize on, fossil fuels would have become (prematurely) obsolete, and the investment required would have been much greater, waiting for a much longer payoff. Also, there were dubious revenue streams available from worldwide services with the state of political affairs in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

So Tesla had the rug pulled out from under him. The tip of the iceberg was JP Morgan's investment funds, which were shifted to the favored Edison. And the Federal government was involved in suppressing some his works, including squelching his research papers and memoirs for reasons of national security, both before and after his death. Basically.

 

[dales5050]

The numbers on that chart represent rank. The only countries ranked ahead of us with lower penetration are Italy and Portugal.

Not sure if it's worth the time explaining data to people who are obviously unable not wanting to have a factual conversation.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Not sure if it's worth the time explaining data to people who are obviously unable not wanting to have a factual conversation.

Never is.

 

[DonnieNarco]

I rely on the invisible hand of ISPs to get my Internet.

 

[dshans]

I rely on the invisible hand of ISPs to get my Internet.

You poor, poor magnificent bastard, you!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

You poor, poor magnificent bastard, you!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AJXKVOxqkWM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[dshans]

Old Peaceniks never die, they just read, read against the dying of the light!