 kapilThe Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL | reply to hottboiinnc
Re: Too Big To Fail? I agree. Backbone/infrastructure companies should either be publicly owned or not allowed to compete in the retail marketplace. Retail companies should all be on a level playing field....unlike the current clusterfuck where a handful of companies have bought their way into a monopoly position in both the wholesale and retail markets.
There would be no net neutrality debate if AT&T didn't think it had leverage...which it does because it not only controls the backbone, but also the pipe into your home.
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 baineschile2600 ways to livePremium
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI
 ·Comcast
 ·magicjack.com
| said by kapil:Retail companies should all be on a level playing field....unlike the current clusterfuck where a handful of companies have bought their way into a monopoly position in both the wholesale and retail markets. Capitalism. |
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kapilThe Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL | I think the word you're looking for is Greed. Or Lobbying. One of the two...but it certainly isn't capitalism.
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Comcast
| Nope. It's capitalism. Maybe a bit rampant but still capitalism. The government is actually too big for capitalism to work at its best, evinced by companies who are able to get the playing field tilted by paying off a few folks. That sounds to me like the government has too MUCH power, not too little.
Also, there's PLENTY of competition on the backbone. It's the middle and last miles where people tend to be (but aren't always) screwed. |
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Reviews:
·WOW Internet and..
1 edit | reply to kapil
And who would own this backbone if it was owned by the Public? The FCC? LMAO! Look at what the Gov't thought they could do with a postal system and a train system! Both are a POS and do not operate effectively and do nothing but cost more $$$$$$
Also if it wasn't for companies like Comcast many people wouldn't have options for Internet. Many Phone Companies (ATT/SBC being one) didn't offer service in many cities until the cable companies came in. The city where i'm orginally from was one. Local Cable Co didn't. SBC didn't want to said there where no plans... TWC took over the city rebuilt everything, the day after RoadRunnerw as available SBC had DSL. And we were all told NO DSL would ever be available. |
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This is such a ridiculous claim. Basically you want to throw the baby out with the bath water. European countries have equally strong, if not stronger governments and ensure a higher quality of life for the vast majority of their citizens.
The reality is that our government has too many ties with big business. If there were little to no government big business would have nothing to worry about. There would be no one to slap them down or control them.
What we need is a reform of the system that currently businesses to contribute to and influence political campaigns. |
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 MadMANNPremium
join:2005-08-19
kudos:2 | reply to kapil
Re: Too Big To Fail? Since nobody remembers, let me help...
The Bell's were supposed to have wired the country up for fiber about 15 years ago. Here's an example:
Verizon (at the time was Bell Atlantic) was given money from the Pennsylvania taxpayers in 1995 so that they would be the pioneers of broadband. They were to wire the entire state with a fiber system that would be able to deliver the best video/data/voice services. Instead, they never built and used that money to pay bonuses to their own executives, while upgrading some of their system to support a whopping 786k high speed dsl connection. Had they actually done what they were supposed to do, they would be the evil Comcast-like company that would be giving you nightmares at night and people would be begging the likes of Comcast to build in their areas because of the big bad monopoly telco.
Since the Bell's squandered their fortunes given to them by Ma Bell and the government of this country, they are now scrambling to stay alive by having to use their own money to build the fiber system everyone was dreaming of then. In the meantime, Comcast built their empire from the ground up with no financial help from the government and right now has the large infrastructure because they earned it.
Whether you like it or want to admit it or not, it is capitalism at work here. Everyone screams for government intervention in these matters and then when they do intercede, the people find out that they got more (or a lot less) than what they bargained for.
Let the market regulate itself. If Comcast is the evil monpolistic empire that you claim they are, they will feel it. The Bell's did. |
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