I had a thought about net neutrality after the last few shows

[G+_bil Jeschke]

I had a thought about net neutrality after the last few shows.

Telephone service is regulated, so could Google get charged from an information service to a regulated carrier? Would that prevent ISPs from doing any service degergation?

This thought was inspired by alcohol, so don't hold it against me if totally stupid.

[G+_Dave Trautman]

bil Jeschke

 

Telephone service in the USA went through the same historical arc as what we are seeing in Net Neutrality today. At some point in about 1974 it became clear that the Bell system was becoming a monopoly and the Justice Department took them to court. By 1984 AT&T (who owned all the Bell and Western Electric companies) realized they were about to get smashed so they negotiated an amicable "breaking up" of their monopoly into a series of other companies and a smaller AT&T. The court agreed to the settlement and competition in the US phone market was restored. It is often suggested in other technology circles this break up allowed the development of the modern internet. As the first computers relied on telephone connections by Modems (and Cable TV was only just getting well-known for TV) it might have been possible for AT&T to actually "own" the internet in the US and prevent it from being adopted across the world (in its current form).

 

Net Neutrality is, essentially, recognizing the potential for suppressing innovation and controlling access much the same way the Bell system was doing in the 70s.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakup_of_the_Bell_System

 

Google, as you brought forward, is providing internet access to some communities in the US and has experimented with border-less wireless access through high altitude balloons and drones. But Google is more importantly a source of information and services. Regulating Google would be like regulating Toyota. The case for letting the market decide exists only inside the USA where the mantra of the market is most strong. In so many other mixed economies of the world it is not uncommon to have the government provide the pipes and let anyone compete for customers on those pipes. The government lets data connections become a standard kind of railroad gauge on which any other companies can move their rolling stock. Almost every country who have provided the pipes to their citizens can boast incredible speeds, better service response, and stable prices. In countries where the pipes are owned by the people who make the content we see constrained access, variable speeds, wildly different pricing, and lower satisfaction. What a great country, eh?

 

Your questions are not totally stupid. They're good starting points for thinking more deeply about the implications of letting other people decide what the consumer should get. For all the blather in the business world about the consumer as king, they sure treat them like serfs.

 

Finally, it may come to pass in your lifetime where governments realize the supreme importance of having internet access to be an equal citizen in society (like having electricity is important enough) then it will be reasonable for them to enact regulations and investment controls on ISP services so that everyone gets the same deal. Once it becomes impossible to participate in your own country without internet then the threshold will have been reached. Getting government services, applying for jobs, legal protection, and a proper education are all becoming dependent of people having digital access. It moves from consumer rights to civil rights. Net Neutrality anticipates the unfairness of access which might result in widely variable services due to fees and charges and hopes to enshrine fair dealing by separating the obligations of the carrier from the services of the providers. Kinda like a Glass-Steagal act for the internet.

 

Hope your hangover isn't too bad. :-)

[G+_Black Merc]

I think padre answered alot about the net in a past show... The telcos owe the taxpayers much, for what they promised, for what they were paid todo, and what they fell short on.(I forget which Dec. show) we the taxpayer just need to keep their feet to the fire, and demand they fullfill that order. Same for D.C. nuts that we elect.

 

Its just time we get our money's worth!

[G+_Dave Trautman]

Black Merc just to be political for a short moment, the US will never get their money’s worth until you get election finance reform. Take money out of politics and your corporate enslavement ends.

 

P.S. shame the digital Jesuit will leave us in 2018 to live in Rome. I will miss him.