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> monopolies have a stranglehold on the telecom industry in the US. Name one telecom monopoly that wasn't created by the government. Federal government create
by tjic 18y ago
> monopolies have a stranglehold on the telecom industry in the US.
Name one telecom monopoly that wasn't created by the government.
Federal government created the telephone monopoly.
Local governments create cable TV and cable modem monopolies.
On purpose.
They do it through legislation.
The stated intent is to "avoid wasteful competition".
IMO, the actual intent is to get a single company under the thumb of government regulators, which then gives more power to the government officials.
Those who can, create.
Those who can't create regulate.
- stcredzero 18y agoEver notice that government monopolies and government sponsored corporate monopolies and corporate monopolies are all very similar? They all tend to suck in the same way. When one removes the motivation of having to please the customer, one also removes many of the drivers of excellence. Local governments are sometimes a lesser evil, because sucking at that level can't be done as anonymously.
- Xichekolas 18y agoExactly. City councils are definitely going to be more responsive to their own neighbors than AT&T is going to be to some complaints from a podunk town.
- jmtame 18y agoI would argue with you, but I've already written a 20 page research paper on this at the same University and under the same professors who created Freepress and SaveTheInternet.com. I've cited everything if you'd like to refute any part of it. I'm not sure where you're getting your facts, but your story is pretty far from the truth. The government did not create the telecom monopoly that we have now, they only failed to prevent it (can you blame them? The Big 3 all lobby Congress). It was the government who started all of this back with ARPA, so I wouldn't point the finger at government because they supported the research efforts to create the Internet. Point the finger at the corporations who are refusing to build a better, faster network (even though their revenues support it) and practice redlining. The faster your speeds, the worse off their old business models are. I assure you that local municipalities have the interest of the people at hand when they build these networks out, after all, the people collectively decide to build something like this before it gets approval. And they would most likely not have access to it any other way. http://jtame05.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/network-neutrality-word97/ http://jtame05.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/network-neutrality-w...