4 ms·

Prioritizing traffic based on ISP preference isn't necessarily a bad thing in all cases; it's just particularly dangerous when ISPs have a monopoly.

kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
> ... when ISPs have a monopoly. Or they collude to keep fees artificially high. Witness the disparity between American and European cellular plan rates. They all just happened to decide that we can't have sub-$30 plans despite "competition".
- johnhenry 9y ago
  Sorry, I wasn't clear. ISPs tend to have monopolies over specific areas orchestrated by an oligopoly that they have over the industry as a whole. Either way there isn't competition, and net-neutrality laws are necessary in this case for a free and open internet. Otherwise, if actual competition did exist, net-neutrality rules wouldn't matter so much.
- yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
  Yep. There's a reason that the laws are called antitrust laws.
- kuschku 9y ago
  This is especially striking when you compare Germany and Denmark, two countries bordering another, and a truly unlimited plan in DK is available at 16€/month, and in Germany at 190€/month
- dboreham 9y ago
  >Witness the disparity between American and European cellular plan rates. I spend a fair bit of time in Europe and since I'm Scottish by birth I devote an unreasonable amount of time trying to find the cheapest decent cell service. Something about this didn't jive so I did a quick check: Picking France as an example European country, Orange will sell you a 2G/Unlimited voice/SMS plan[1] for 25 Euro/mo. Meanwhile Verizon will charge you $35/mo for a similar 2G/unlimited voice plan[2]. Current $/Euro exchange rage is 1.2 so the French service ($30) is a little cheaper but not significantly. Also in my experience service in Europe is generally less good in terms of coverage and QoS than we experience in the US. YMMV of course. [1] https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/forfaits-orange https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/forfaits-orange [2] https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/ https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/

kevin_thibedeau 9y ago

> ... when ISPs have a monopoly. Or they collude to keep fees artificially high. Witness the disparity between American and European cellular plan rates. They all just happened to decide that we can't have sub-$30 plans despite "competition".

johnhenry 9y ago
Sorry, I wasn't clear. ISPs tend to have monopolies over specific areas orchestrated by an oligopoly that they have over the industry as a whole. Either way there isn't competition, and net-neutrality laws are necessary in this case for a free and open internet. Otherwise, if actual competition did exist, net-neutrality rules wouldn't matter so much.
yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
Yep. There's a reason that the laws are called antitrust laws.
kuschku 9y ago
This is especially striking when you compare Germany and Denmark, two countries bordering another, and a truly unlimited plan in DK is available at 16€/month, and in Germany at 190€/month
dboreham 9y ago
>Witness the disparity between American and European cellular plan rates. I spend a fair bit of time in Europe and since I'm Scottish by birth I devote an unreasonable amount of time trying to find the cheapest decent cell service. Something about this didn't jive so I did a quick check: Picking France as an example European country, Orange will sell you a 2G/Unlimited voice/SMS plan[1] for 25 Euro/mo. Meanwhile Verizon will charge you $35/mo for a similar 2G/unlimited voice plan[2]. Current $/Euro exchange rage is 1.2 so the French service ($30) is a little cheaper but not significantly. Also in my experience service in Europe is generally less good in terms of coverage and QoS than we experience in the US. YMMV of course. [1] https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/forfaits-orange https://boutique.orange.fr/mobile/forfaits-orange [2] https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/ https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/