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I think this is a very nice explanation that gets to the heart one of the key net neutrality issues. I would quibble with the statement "For each connection, th
by dv_dt 11y ago
I think this is a very nice explanation that gets to the heart one of the key net neutrality issues. I would quibble with the statement "For each connection, there is someone paying money who can take their money elsewhere if that connection is too slow."
There is one person in that lineup who often can't put their money elsewhere if the connection is slow, and that's the consumer. This is the main reason that the Consumer-ISP is in the economic position to demand payment for passage through the monopoly gateway to the consumer. If the consumer could chose other access options then Consumer-ISP isn't going to be able to demand extra payment for passage.
- derf_ 11y agoI think that's actually essential in making this possible. If consumers could walk away from their ISP, then if that ISP actually started throttling Netflix, all of those consumers would leave for an ISP that didn't do that. That's the reason for the asymmetry in the second diagram that was not present in the first.
- learc83 11y ago> If consumers could walk away from their ISP, then if that ISP actually started throttling Netflix, all of those consumers would leave for an ISP that didn't do that. That's true for Netflix and a few larger sites. But for the other 90% of sites there aren't enough customers who would switch for ISPs to care.
- mjevans 11y agoMostly due to lack of competition. Which is something that both congress and the FCC desperately need to encourage. Competition like, preventing states from making laws that limit competition. If the free market is truly healthy then it CAN compete with government provided services.
- cderwin 11y agoThe problem is Congress and the FCC bear just as much culpability for the anti-competitive telecom markets as the state governments. It's naive to think that a group that created these monopolies have any interest in the sort of deregulation that would actually encourage competition, and in particular would allow the success of new telecoms/ISPs.
- lukeschlather 11y agoWhat's naive is describing Congress and the FCC as monoliths with singular, easily defined interests.
- nsgi 11y agoHowever, even if there was more competition, ISPs would still potentially be able to demand money from less prominent services that consumers are unlikely to switch ISPs to use, and exempt their own services from data caps.