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especially given that they don't seem to be concerned about having internet service providers declared public utilities. Which is why it will obviously fail at

especially given that they don't seem to be concerned about having internet service providers declared public utilities. Which is why it will obviously fail at actually doing anything useful. However, the intended purpose may not be so much to do anything useful, as it is to score some points for incumbent politicians. In that, it could succeed brilliantly. It's actually a very smart move if you consider the political benefits accrued to politicians.

tolbish 5y ago
What a smart, optimal use of taxpayer dollars. Ohio residents should be proud.
jeffbee 5y ago
Name even one way in which Google resembles a public utility. When I build a house, do I have to pay $25k to get my Google pipes hooked up? Seriously where are the parallels?
- ketzo 5y ago
  It's a service with which essentially every person living in present-day America needs to interact on a day-to-day basis. And yes, they need to. I think it is hugely disingenuous to pretend otherwise. We can talk all day about how DuckDuckGo and ProtonMail exist. But for a huge, huge majority of people, Google simply is the internet.
  - bananabreakfast 5y ago
    Hard disagree. Gmail maybe. Providing email as a utility service is a strained argument but could be made as there is a parallel to actual mail service. Literally everything else Google does has a mainstream alternative that is a click away.
    - vineyardmike 5y ago
      > everything else Google does has a mainstream alternative that is a click away. Except no one clicks away (most people).
  - bilbo0s 5y ago
    The material point is that an ISP is what you need to get to Google. You don't need Google to get to the ISP. You need electricity to get television, you don't need television to get electricity. You need electricity to get the internet, you don't need the internet to get electricity. Now whether or not television or internet are more useful than electricity is an entirely separate question. But which of the three is the baseline utility is a bit obvious. But again, the intended purpose is probably not to make Google a utility, it's to score political points. So none of these arguments are really relevant to the calculus that a politician would work through before taking an action like this. This is still a brilliant action from a political perspective because it will undoubtedly win incumbents some votes.

tolbish 5y ago

What a smart, optimal use of taxpayer dollars. Ohio residents should be proud.

jeffbee 5y ago

Name even one way in which Google resembles a public utility. When I build a house, do I have to pay $25k to get my Google pipes hooked up? Seriously where are the parallels?

ketzo 5y ago
It's a service with which essentially every person living in present-day America needs to interact on a day-to-day basis. And yes, they need to. I think it is hugely disingenuous to pretend otherwise. We can talk all day about how DuckDuckGo and ProtonMail exist. But for a huge, huge majority of people, Google simply is the internet.
- bananabreakfast 5y ago
  Hard disagree. Gmail maybe. Providing email as a utility service is a strained argument but could be made as there is a parallel to actual mail service. Literally everything else Google does has a mainstream alternative that is a click away.
  - vineyardmike 5y ago
    > everything else Google does has a mainstream alternative that is a click away. Except no one clicks away (most people).
- bilbo0s 5y ago
  The material point is that an ISP is what you need to get to Google. You don't need Google to get to the ISP. You need electricity to get television, you don't need television to get electricity. You need electricity to get the internet, you don't need the internet to get electricity. Now whether or not television or internet are more useful than electricity is an entirely separate question. But which of the three is the baseline utility is a bit obvious. But again, the intended purpose is probably not to make Google a utility, it's to score political points. So none of these arguments are really relevant to the calculus that a politician would work through before taking an action like this. This is still a brilliant action from a political perspective because it will undoubtedly win incumbents some votes.