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The best argument I've found for convincing conservatives is to stress that the internet is a platform for commerce, and healthy commerce requires equality of o
by pharrlax 10y ago
The best argument I've found for convincing conservatives is to stress that the internet is a platform for commerce, and healthy commerce requires equality of opportunity -- specifically, the opportunity for consumers to access your business.
ISPs literally "own the road", to create an analogy for internet businesses. If the only road company in town installs a toll booth or a series of speed bumps in front of McDonald's because Burger King paid them to, it artificially distorts the market in a way that allows successful companies to pay to entrench themselves and fend off competition.
Innovation and disruption inherently require free and fair access to the storefronts of upstarts, whether physical or digital. To slant the playing field with throttling or zero-rating is tantamount to a big box corp having the ability to pay someone to install a toll booth in front of my competing mom and pop business.
- NoPiece 10y agoAnother net neutrality case for conservatives: you might never get a Breitbart or IJReview in a world where Comcast is selling preference to CNN/Newscorp/Disney-ABC.
- NoPiece 10y agoAnother net neutrality case for conservatives: you might never get a Breitbart or IJReview in a world where Comcast is selling preference to CNN/Newscorp/Disney-ABC.
- crazy1van 10y ago> If the only road company in town installs a toll booth or a series of speed bumps in front of McDonald's because Burger King paid them to This kind of thinking will lead to a big debate about what exactly is a speed bump -- how high can they be? Do rumble-strips count? What about potholes? A better solution would be to just let more companies build roads in your town. Then all the people who want to go to McDonalds will take their business to the other road companies.
- pharrlax 10y ago>A better solution would be to just let more companies build roads in your town. That sounds great, except the roads have all been built. It's prohibitively expensive and risky to try to build out your own parallel set of infrastructure, whether it's roads or cable. I mean, if Google tried and failed to do it, who else is going to be able to succeed?