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I hate the idea of caps on my data transfers. I don't want to have to pay per-GB fees. I also hate the idea of having to pay-as-I-go for LD telephone, for minu

I hate the idea of caps on my data transfers. I don't want to have to pay per-GB fees. I also hate the idea of having to pay-as-I-go for LD telephone, for minutes on my cellphone, for gas to power my car. I mean, I paid almost $30K for my car; why should I have to fork out more money just to use what I've already bought? </sarcasm> Really, I do hate it. But if we don't allow companies to make money by providing bandwidth, then no one will want to enter the market, and without competition we'll never get better or cheaper services.

req2 18y ago
If we don't allow companies to make money by providing roads, then no one will want to drive!
- scott_s 18y ago
  That's an argument for making ISPs run by the government, which I'd be open to. But we'd still have to pay for it. We do pay for the roads, it's just that we do it through taxes.
- CWuestefeld 18y ago
  Maybe you're right. Although they're rare, there is certainly precedent for private roads, and many of these are successful. For example: "The Dulles Greenway is a private road built in the western suburbs of Washington, D.C., in 1995. Though constructed with some restrictions set by the state, it was built with private money and is run as a for-profit business. The first year it opened, 6.1 million trips were made on the road. In 2006, 21 million trips were made. This type of private toll road has the ability to move large numbers of people without the aforementioned problems associated with the federal interstates that we are told are indispensable. It has shown its viability, and we might well be seeing many more of these private toll roads in the future." See http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0809d.asp http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0809d.asp