 | Let Them Be Non-Neutral & Lobby First, don't blame lobbyist because people in Washington, D.C. are easily persuaded and easily bribed. You don't like your politicians, vote them out and run for office.
Second, let the telephone and cable companies potentially abuse their subscribers. This will forward new competition, and those to unwilling to move on will simply be cow in the slaughterhouse (ask any AOLer).
Personally, I'm banking on the telco and cable industry abuse, and the mass migration of consumers to other forms of broadband. This will ultimately give rise to new competition, cause new investment and hopefully new jobs. |
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 | said by GhostDoggy:First, don't blame lobbyist because people in Washington, D.C. are easily persuaded and easily bribed. You don't like your politicians, vote them out and run for office. Problem is everyone is the same. Both sides play the lobbying game and both sides take money. Until you remove that part of the equation, Congress will be bought and paid for by the highest bidder.
said by GhostDoggy:Second, let the telephone and cable companies potentially abuse their subscribers. This will forward new competition, and those to unwilling to move on will simply be cow in the slaughterhouse (ask any AOLer). How can new competition go forward when, at every turn, both the telcos and cable companies cry about others coming into their territory?
said by GhostDoggy:Personally, I'm banking on the telco and cable industry abuse, and the mass migration of consumers to other forms of broadband. This will ultimately give rise to new competition, cause new investment and hopefully new jobs. Again, what other forms? Cell phone systems are limited, satellite systems are slow and expensive, BPL is no where near the speed of cable or FTTH and barely to DSL speeds, wireless has issues of their own, the list goes on.
It was much better when the FCC mandated that there were to be 2 cell phone companies per area to start service. Now look at the amount of competition there. |
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 Host: Road Runner PC gaming GAMES PC gaming Tech
| Essentially what I was going to ask. What other technology?
BPL? A niche solution that will never see broad penetration.
Muni-Fi? Incumbents have lobbied for laws banning free amd cheap Wi-Fi in 14 states, and will likely make it irrelevent with 3Mbps+ 3G.
A bunch of hobbyists with mesh-networking gear won't bring about "mass migration". |
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 scrummie02BentleyPremium join:2004-04-16 Arlington, VA Reviews:
·Comcast
| "Muni-Fi? Incumbents have lobbied for laws banning free amd cheap Wi-Fi in 14 states, and will likely make it irrelevent with 3Mbps+ 3G."
For their states sure...but hopefully the informed citizen will vote those folks out of office and bring in someone open minded. The problem really isn't politicians, it's the uneducated/apathetic citizens that vote them into office or just don't care whose in office. It's all about accountability and the politicians will only get away with what we let them. It's time for the common citizens to get educated vote accordingly, unfortunately most don't care... |
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 Host: Road Runner PC gaming GAMES PC gaming Tech
| quote: For their states sure...but hopefully the informed citizen will vote those folks out of office and bring in someone open minded.
I think "hoping" isn't going to do it. People are uninformed. This stuff receives yawns from the public because they do not understand, or they simply don't care.
Consumer advocates are marginalized as fringe nuts. There is nobody driving them in concert to act. |
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 scrummie02BentleyPremium join:2004-04-16 Arlington, VA Reviews:
·Comcast
| then raise awareness. Take action if you feel that strongly about it.
"Consumer advocates are marginalized as fringe nuts. There is nobody driving them in concert to act."
Case in point. It's not only apathetic citizens, it's apathetic activists as well. If you feel people are uninformed that start an information campaign or help disseminate the knowledge of an already existing one. |
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 | quote: then raise awareness. Take action if you feel that strongly about it.
I write about it every single day. |
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 scrummie02BentleyPremium join:2004-04-16 Arlington, VA Reviews:
·Comcast
| well writing about it on DSLReports.com isn't going to cut it. However you seem like an intelligent human being and I'll assume you write your politicians about this issue  With that being said, I keep track of who actually writes be back when I write them. My vote isn't only based on their platforms, but their response to concerned citizens as well. |
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 | said by scrummie02:well writing about it on DSLReports.com isn't going to cut it. However you seem like an intelligent human being and I'll assume you write your politicians about this issue  With that being said, I keep track of who actually writes be back when I write them. My vote isn't only based on their platforms, but their response to concerned citizens as well. Most politicians vote where the money comes from. I doubt the average citizen has the pocketbooks of the average telco.  |
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 scrummie02BentleyPremium join:2004-04-16 Arlington, VA Reviews:
·Comcast
| complaining that politicians are "bought" and not taking action is no excuse. If you believe they are being bought and have proof, go to the media or publicize it. Chances are when the public finds out and votes will be lost, he'll change his tune. |
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 Host: Road Runner PC gaming GAMES PC gaming Tech
| reply to scrummie02 quote: However you seem like an intelligent human being and I'll assume you write your politicians about this issue
Of course. I keep all the form letters I get in response as my voice is completely disregarded, too. |
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 | reply to scrummie02 said by scrummie02:complaining that politicians are "bought" and not taking action is no excuse. If you believe they are being bought and have proof, go to the media or publicize it. Chances are when the public finds out and votes will be lost, he'll change his tune. Please tell me you are not this naive.
There are countless websites that show how much politicians get in money from various public interest groups year after year.
Here is one right here:
»www.opensecrets.org/
Countless times, lobbying reform has been proposed many times before (usually by the minority party) and it never passes since a) it's the minority party that doesn't have enough votes to pass it, and b) no one in Congress wants to kill the gravy train.
People in this country don't care as long as interest rates are low, prices are cheap and jobs are plentiful. It will take a massive catastrophe for any change to happen.
I'll even give you another example. Here in my area, the mostly Democratic legislature, voted an electric deregulation bill. Caps in place for 6 years and those expire this July where the local utility has proposed a 72% increase in rates. They will phase them in for those who do not opt out of the program at about 15% increase with an additional 5% interest rate on whatever is over 15%.
Now, it's an election year and EVERYONE IS MAD AS HELL!!! The problem is, some of those same members of legislature are still in office and are pointing fingers at everyone else.
Here is their latest attempt not to rip off everyone:
»wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=42977
Net neutrality is not a big enough issue yet so no one, outside of those who know, will care much until it is all too late. |
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