SOPA Runs Into Brick Wall > voting..

reply to dynodb

Re: voting..

That's debatable. A lot of the US is very spread out. And to do so means running completely new infrastructure (i.e. fiber) everywhere. Verizon tried that; it was very, very expensive, and they quite stupidly sold a bunch of it. (to morons who don't know how to use it.) The few municipal networks that have been built suggests it's possible, however, they aren't out to be a for-profit enterprise. (and if you believe the propaganda, they're completely built and funded by tax money.)

so why not in big cities and most of the northest?
also as to the tax money funding the muni networks... im ok with this? better that then in some ones slush fund
hell no one looks at the long run any more id bet you more them make it back with property taxes and new business that moves in when you have a network like that

By my rekoning, it's a combination of (mostly) greed, and lazy. They have no competition which means no pressure to upgrade. And they already have a massively profitable pig, so they have no desire (or willingness) to take any chances at all -- they won't do anything new until someone else takes all the risks and makes money at it. (it's the Microsoft Way(tm)... let someone else build the business and then take it away from them.)

The part about tax-funded is a joke. They are only *partly* funded by tax revenue, and even then, it's in the form of bonds which eventually get paid back -- unless the local monopolies bleed them dry with legal red tape (or *cough* buy their own set of laws making it illegal to even ask.)

Long-term is not what it used to be. CEOs, investors, and shareholders want money now, not tomorrow, and not 3-5 years from now.