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Please no. I agree disruption in the space would be great, but don't let Amazon enter the ISP space. They have enough money, and power over the internet, as is

by 2023throwawayy 3y ago

Please no. I agree disruption in the space would be great, but don't let Amazon enter the ISP space. They have enough money, and power over the internet, as is. I would have to think that would be an antitrust violation anyway.

belval 3y ago
(I work at AWS) I know this is close to whataboutism so I will try to choose my words carefully, but does Amazon really have that much power over the Internet? Realistically Amazon does not have a large advert network, footing in mobile, operating systems or web browsers? They have some control in the form of AWS/Route 53 but that's a far cry from some larger DNS, domain registrar and CDN providers. Not denying that they have a lot of money, but even when using that money to try and buy a user base (Alexa or Fire Tablet/TV) their success has been pretty limited overall.
- krono 3y ago
  Without meaning to imply anything, I do suppose that powering much of the western internet does indeed equal having much power over the internet.
  - mr_toad 3y ago
    I think you overestimate how much of the internet runs on AWS. In terms of websites it’s less than 10%. Their share of the overall cloud is about 35%.
    - krono 3y ago
      Perhaps, but you'll have to admit those numbers are far from insignificant and on top of that represent things that are rather more impactful than mere personal blogs such as even critical Dutch government services.
- thewildginger 3y ago
  When you control the most common way to buy and sell goods personal goods in the western world, you control a lot more than the internet. You control everything else.
- KerrAvon 3y ago
  There are different forms of power. Pretend you could switch off AWS completely tomorrow. How much of the internet would disappear?
- est31 3y ago
  Comparing with Google isn't fair, they are probably the company with the single most power over the internet out there.
NickC25 3y ago
Seriously...don't give Bezos any ideas. Amazon in the ISP space would be an absolute disaster for consumers.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  ISP's are already a disaster for consumers, with their totally deceptive pricing and invented fees. Any new entrant can only increase competition and drive down prices. Amazon as an ISP would be amazing for me. There's only one ISP that serves my neighborhood already, so any additional one would be a godsend. If it's between no new ISP and a new Amazon ISP, I'll take Amazon any day of the week.
  - dotnet00 3y ago
    Kind of like Google Fi in the mobile service provider space, anyone, even if someone as otherwise bad as Google or Amazon, can potentially disrupt things and improve prices and functionality.

belval 3y ago

(I work at AWS) I know this is close to whataboutism so I will try to choose my words carefully, but does Amazon really have that much power over the Internet? Realistically Amazon does not have a large advert network, footing in mobile, operating systems or web browsers? They have some control in the form of AWS/Route 53 but that's a far cry from some larger DNS, domain registrar and CDN providers. Not denying that they have a lot of money, but even when using that money to try and buy a user base (Alexa or Fire Tablet/TV) their success has been pretty limited overall.

krono 3y ago
Without meaning to imply anything, I do suppose that powering much of the western internet does indeed equal having much power over the internet.
- mr_toad 3y ago
  I think you overestimate how much of the internet runs on AWS. In terms of websites it’s less than 10%. Their share of the overall cloud is about 35%.
  - krono 3y ago
    Perhaps, but you'll have to admit those numbers are far from insignificant and on top of that represent things that are rather more impactful than mere personal blogs such as even critical Dutch government services.
thewildginger 3y ago
When you control the most common way to buy and sell goods personal goods in the western world, you control a lot more than the internet. You control everything else.
KerrAvon 3y ago
There are different forms of power. Pretend you could switch off AWS completely tomorrow. How much of the internet would disappear?
est31 3y ago
Comparing with Google isn't fair, they are probably the company with the single most power over the internet out there.

NickC25 3y ago

Seriously...don't give Bezos any ideas. Amazon in the ISP space would be an absolute disaster for consumers.

crazygringo 3y ago
ISP's are already a disaster for consumers, with their totally deceptive pricing and invented fees. Any new entrant can only increase competition and drive down prices. Amazon as an ISP would be amazing for me. There's only one ISP that serves my neighborhood already, so any additional one would be a godsend. If it's between no new ISP and a new Amazon ISP, I'll take Amazon any day of the week.
- dotnet00 3y ago
  Kind of like Google Fi in the mobile service provider space, anyone, even if someone as otherwise bad as Google or Amazon, can potentially disrupt things and improve prices and functionality.