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No they didn't set up the comparison themselves, and it is a false and harmful comparison. The Internet is not the same category of thing as Stripe, or pretty

No they didn't set up the comparison themselves, and it is a false and harmful comparison. The Internet is not the same category of thing as Stripe, or pretty much anything else that I can think of. The Internet is a network of networks. Net neutrality is what allowed it to grow and flourish to everyone's mutual benefit. It is not AT&T/Comcast/Verizon that created the Internet and thus have the right to control it, rather they are selling access to the Internet which they can profit from not because of their initiative and innovation, but because of a much larger collaborative effort and series of gentleman's agreements that predate their involvement. They have leverage because of a monopoly on the last mile to consumers and they are trying whatever shenanigans they can to capitalize on that advantage, but it's all bullshit, and to even entertain their bullshit with false analogies for the sake of some deluded sense of fairness is really a bad idea. What Stripe does is the same as any other payment gateway. Not only did they fully create their own platform, but there are dozens of competitors with no barrier to entry, and mind you, even if they did have some kind of monopoly to something they themselves built, it still wouldn't fall into the same category as the Internet. Even suggesting this comparison is to frame the debate in favorable terms for the telecoms, and they definitely don't deserve the support.

tolmasky 13y ago
You are free to believe that the analogy is not sound, or that the comparison is weak, but it is silly to say that they did not set the comparison themselves. You should definitely take it up with them (which was part of the point of my post). Its not really clear to me how to prove this to you other than just quoting the post back to you: "As we’ve written before, we believe in the power of impartial platforms. We’re building a platform ourselves, and we work hard to ensure that Stripe treats businesses of all size neutrally. Mr. Wheeler’s plan would push the internet in the opposite direction. It would give larger players a distinct advantage, hurt new companies, and dampen the rapid innovation that has thus far defined the internet economy." Unless you believe mentioning themselves and how they stay neutral was one big typo, or some sort of strange and irrelevant digression, it seems pretty clear that they are comparing their neutral intentions with the importance of keeping net neutrality. Their argument basically goes: 1. We believe in impartial platforms as a general tenant. 2. For example, our platform, as a subset of "platforms", should remain neutral which we strive to do. 3. The internet, another platform, should also be neutral, if not these bad things will happen: blah blah blah.
- ThomPete 13y ago
  That is because you are comparing the wrong things. If stripe started to charge two different companies based on which brand of jeans they were selling you had a point but that is not what Stripe do. They treat everyone the same regardless of what they sell but not how much they pay. Thats the difference.

tolmasky 13y ago

You are free to believe that the analogy is not sound, or that the comparison is weak, but it is silly to say that they did not set the comparison themselves. You should definitely take it up with them (which was part of the point of my post). Its not really clear to me how to prove this to you other than just quoting the post back to you: "As we’ve written before, we believe in the power of impartial platforms. We’re building a platform ourselves, and we work hard to ensure that Stripe treats businesses of all size neutrally. Mr. Wheeler’s plan would push the internet in the opposite direction. It would give larger players a distinct advantage, hurt new companies, and dampen the rapid innovation that has thus far defined the internet economy." Unless you believe mentioning themselves and how they stay neutral was one big typo, or some sort of strange and irrelevant digression, it seems pretty clear that they are comparing their neutral intentions with the importance of keeping net neutrality. Their argument basically goes: 1. We believe in impartial platforms as a general tenant. 2. For example, our platform, as a subset of "platforms", should remain neutral which we strive to do. 3. The internet, another platform, should also be neutral, if not these bad things will happen: blah blah blah.

ThomPete 13y ago
That is because you are comparing the wrong things. If stripe started to charge two different companies based on which brand of jeans they were selling you had a point but that is not what Stripe do. They treat everyone the same regardless of what they sell but not how much they pay. Thats the difference.