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I'm not sure how equal your analogy is. It would require that All Payment Processors, not just Stripe, would have to treat all users neutrally. Which would be a

I'm not sure how equal your analogy is. It would require that All Payment Processors, not just Stripe, would have to treat all users neutrally. Which would be awesome, because Stripe would beat the heck out of the competition. Plus, to be a fair comparison, it would mean regulation so that payment processors couldn't actively make it HARDER for you unless you pay them. Which again, they should be in support of. It's more like the DMV throwing down nails and tacks in your driveway and telling you that you can have them removed if you pay them more.

tolmasky 12y ago
Yes, just like the current rules would affect all ISPs. Sorry if it wasn't clear that the law would apply to all payment processors and not be written to solely affect Stripe.
- neura 12y ago
  I think you may still be missing the main point, which is that network access providers already have a tight hold on your business. For a given geographic area, you usually only have access to either phone lines or cable, with some exceptions, which usually are higher cost and lower quality. While you may be able to obtain DSL service from multiple "providers", they're almost always using the same resources. Kind of in the same way that there are many mobile providers, but they all rely on the major networks. Companies like Stripe on the other hand, are equivalent to the front end of that system. Nearly anybody can provide the same service that Stripe does. Which makes it a competition to see who can provide the best service vs price (or whatever choices you're basing your decision on). If you only have access to the internet through your cable lines or phone lines, having the entities that control those finite resources legally able to charge more for different types of content over their lines or content from different locations, etc. is a pretty huge deal. Even when you use some "local ISP", if the company that controls the end point at which your phone lines are connected to the internet decides to start filtering, rate limiting, etc. the data you're receiving, there's not much you can do about it. Heck, even wireless internet providers are working with finite resources. You can't just decide one day that you want to start a business doing wireless networking over large distances without getting the FCC involved. It's to the point that you could basically consider wireless networks with enough broadcast strength to cover a city to have virtual hard lines. They essentially own those frequencies, so they may as well be considered the same type of finite resource.

tolmasky 12y ago

Yes, just like the current rules would affect all ISPs. Sorry if it wasn't clear that the law would apply to all payment processors and not be written to solely affect Stripe.

neura 12y ago
I think you may still be missing the main point, which is that network access providers already have a tight hold on your business. For a given geographic area, you usually only have access to either phone lines or cable, with some exceptions, which usually are higher cost and lower quality. While you may be able to obtain DSL service from multiple "providers", they're almost always using the same resources. Kind of in the same way that there are many mobile providers, but they all rely on the major networks. Companies like Stripe on the other hand, are equivalent to the front end of that system. Nearly anybody can provide the same service that Stripe does. Which makes it a competition to see who can provide the best service vs price (or whatever choices you're basing your decision on). If you only have access to the internet through your cable lines or phone lines, having the entities that control those finite resources legally able to charge more for different types of content over their lines or content from different locations, etc. is a pretty huge deal. Even when you use some "local ISP", if the company that controls the end point at which your phone lines are connected to the internet decides to start filtering, rate limiting, etc. the data you're receiving, there's not much you can do about it. Heck, even wireless internet providers are working with finite resources. You can't just decide one day that you want to start a business doing wireless networking over large distances without getting the FCC involved. It's to the point that you could basically consider wireless networks with enough broadcast strength to cover a city to have virtual hard lines. They essentially own those frequencies, so they may as well be considered the same type of finite resource.