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> And while the FCC currently supports some regulation, it still allows zero-rating, which many critics believe violates net neutrality. > Eliminating regulati
by gregmac 10y ago
> And while the FCC currently supports some regulation, it still allows zero-rating, which many critics believe violates net neutrality.
> Eliminating regulations essentially means ISPs can continue charging consumers for access to the internet while simultaneously charging institutions for prioritized access to those customers. This means any organization without deep enough pockets to pay an ISP’s ransom will load much slower than those with ties to ISPs.
Zero-rating may actually lead to a much more dire but subtle future: it's impossible to start a new service because you can't afford to have your content zero-rated (let alone do it at every ISP). If zero-rating increases, data caps can be lowered without a lot of consumer complaint. The lower the caps get, the more necessary it is to be zero-rated if you want consumers to use your service.
The really bad part of this is there isn't any need to have fair pricing. Companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Google can all negotiate lower rates than a new startup because of their volume. Worse, the ISP's own zero-rated services automatically get a pricing advantage because they don't have to pay to be zero-rated.
- bdrool 10y agoThis is the end of innovation on the internet, and the beginning of a few large, highly-entrenched incumbents with high barriers to entry. Unless your application is unusually low-bandwidth, you won't be able to compete, and that's the way the big players will want it. In less than 30 years, we'll have gone from a completely wild-west open internet to a totally locked-up playing field. It was fun while it lasted, I suppose...
- imh 10y agoInnovation could still happen in countries with net neutrality.
- sounds 10y ago"The Internet...well, as much of it as only requires transit within Estonia" would be a poor simulacrum of the whole. I actually agree that it's going to be a county-by-country battle. Also, Estonia in fact has some of the best ISP service. Yet the point of the internet is that nobody should care where you are, _especially_ whether you are in a G8 country.
- leereeves 10y agoWhy only Estonia? Is net neutrality in danger in the rest of the EU?
- thirdsun 10y agoYou bet it is. I'm pretty sure that european providers are watching very closely and are trying to figure out how to make something similar work over here. It's always easier to argue if there's a precedent.
- onli 10y agoYes. In Germany for example. Deutsche Telekom openly advocates against net neutrality, https://www.telekom.com/en/company/management-unplugged/details/net-neutrality--finding-consensus-in-the-minefield-362382 https://www.telekom.com/en/company/management-unplugged/deta..., and already practiced (don't know whether they still do that) zero rating to boost their offerings, and some partners like Spotify. Politicians wanted to end net neutrality, see http://www.dw.com/en/german-parliamentarians-tackle-net-neutrality/a-16900369 http://www.dw.com/en/german-parliamentarians-tackle-net-neut.... The last EU regulations protect net neutrality, but afaik there still are loopholes.