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You realize that this works both ways, right? Content providers will block access to customers of cable companies while they're in a dispute--CBS has done it before, and one of the big content owners (Viacom, maybe) has blocked access to its online resources to customers coming from CableOne's networks within the last few weeks.
Just a see-through slippery slope. But luckily the answer is to have a scumbag-appointed ex-cable-company FCC commissioner to oversee this fairness.
I'm not advocating the same position as "That scumbag ex-cable-company FCC commissioner". You are.
Verizon has sued the FCC and lost in court and then pursued the case on appeal and won.
You don't think they have a definite plan in mind???
Here is my proposal:
This thread should still be here 12 months from now.
Let's all meet up again next Summer and see who was right here, shall we?
Scumbag-appointed. And he's currently in charge of the FCC, and you want them to be regulated by who?
Hobbes, people said the same FUD on Digg in 2008. It didn't happen then.
It didn't happen in 2009.
It didn't happen in 2010.
It didn't happen in 2011.
It didn't happen in 2012.
It didn't happen in 2013.
I think 2014 will be just fine.
2h12m
See the part in bold.
Wasn't it also overturned in 2010?
It was in April of 2010 and in December of 2010 the FCC adopted the current Open Internet Order as a response to the ruling.
That's where we've been ever since til now.
We have effectively been living under NN policy all the time until now.
This article says that NN provisions only cover the last mile of pipe to the consumer.
I can't confirm that but it's a reputable source and if so that means the talk of peer level imbalances and CDNs and the like are irrelevant to NN debate.
And with that check this article out:
http://arstechnica.com/business/201...n-comcast-network-for-video-service-wsj-says/
No extra bandwidth added to the network anywhere, just prioritizing certain content right before it hits the customers cable modem.
I can't confirm that but it's a reputable source and if so that means the talk of peer level imbalances and CDNs and the like are irrelevant to NN debate.
And with that check this article out:
http://arstechnica.com/business/201...n-comcast-network-for-video-service-wsj-says/
No extra bandwidth added to the network anywhere, just prioritizing certain content right before it hits the customers cable modem.
this was a shocker ...
--------------
Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With FiberBut Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused
In light of the ongoing net neutrality battle, many people have begun looking to Google and its promise of high-speed fiber as a potential saving grace from companies that want to create an "internet fast lane." Well, the fact is, even without Google, many communities and cities throughout the country are already wired with fiberthey just don't let their residents use it.
The reasons vary by city, but in many cases, the reason you can't get gigabit internet speedswithout the threat of that service being provided by a company that wants to discriminate against certain types of trafficis because of the giant telecom businesses that want to kill net neutrality in the first place.
RELATED: Why It's So Hard to Bring Gigabit Internet to the US
Throughout the country, companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, and Verizon have signed agreements with cities that prohibit local governments from becoming internet service providers and prohibit municipalities from selling or leasing their fiber to local startups who would compete with these huge corporations.
Because ISPs often double as cable and telephone companies, during contract negotiations with governments, they'll often offer incentives to the governmentsuch as better or faster service, earlier access to (their company's) cable internet for residents, and the likein exchange for a non-compete clause.
To be clear, these are often strictly local agreements between cities and cable giants.
In Washington DC, for instance, the country's first 100 Gbps fiber network has been available to nonprofit organizations since 2006but not to any of the city's residents. During a re-negotiation with Comcast in 1999 in which the company threatened to cut off cable service to the city, Comcast agreed to provide some of its fiber access to the city for the government's "exclusive use."
WATCH: Motherboard's documentary about the hackers trying to build a distributed network
"The 1999 agreement was conditioned in important ways," former Obama administration assistant and Harvard University researcher Susan Crawford wrote in a recent paper examining the city's fiber network. "First, the city agreed not to lease or sell the fiber. Second, the contract required that the city not 'engage in any activities or outcomes that would result in business competition between the District and Comcast or that may result in loss of business opportunity for Comcast.'"
Comcast never even made its fiber available to the city, but that agreement, and a future one with Verizon, has, in part, kept the city's DC-NET fiber network out of residents' homes.
The intent was never to take the business away from Verizon or Comcast, Anil Sharma, director of operations for DC-NET, told Washington City Paper last year. Our target audience always was community anchor institutions.
What happened in DC is not uncommon. According to MuniNetworks, a group that tracks community access to fiber nationwide, at least 20 states have laws or other regulatory barriers that make it illegal or difficult for communities to offer fiber access to their residents. Even in states where there are no official rules, non-compete agreements between government and big business are common.
[Broken External Image]
These are the cities and towns where residents can access community fiber. Image: MuniNetworks
What happens then are so-called "middle-mile" projects, where government buildings, schools, and nonprofit groups can be wired up, but expanded access to consumers is met with stiff lobbying opposition and threats from larger ISPs.
"A full fiber-to-the-premises model, on the other hand, might attract the attention of the entire national communications industry and related industries," New America Foundation researchers wrote in a May report called "The Art of the Possible: An Overview of Public Broadband Options." "That is because the competition enabled by a high-capacity fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure would be perceived as a direct challenge to the interests of incumbent players in the current market structure."
There are, however, glimmers of hope.
Cities are beginning to see the importance of providing their residents with cheap, fast, and open broadband networks, and at least 89 cities and towns nationwide now offer fiber to their residents as a publicly owned utility. Patrick Lucey, one of the authors of the New America report, told me that the number of communities that actually offer fiber "doesn't capture the amount of conversations and attention that broadband infrastructure is getting."
Officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which offers gigabit fiber to more than 39,000 residents, said that they initially invested in fiber to "control their own destiny." Wilson, North Carolina, a city of 50,000 people, offers the fastest internet speeds in the entire state and has noticed a population growth and a marked increase in the number of businesses relocating to and forming in the city.
RELATED: This Rural Community Is Building Its Own Gigabit Internet Network
"A lot of these small communities have decided to make the decision to try to try to keep young people from moving away and have decided to invest in this," Lucey said. "It's not just about having broadband internet so you can watch Netflix, it's about making sure schools and first responders have the bandwidth capabilities they need. To have libraries and hospitals wired up and to give residents the chance to take advantage of it."
[Broken External Image]
Fiber availability (from any company) for US residents. Image: US Broadband Map
Meanwhile, cities that are already wired up but don't have restrictive agreements with a major ISP are looking for ways to lease or sell it off to smaller, local ISPsbut, unfortunately, the business model appears elusive in many places. Despite the fact that this fiber often exists in the ground, it's expensive and cumbersome for a citywithout the help of an ISPto go the "last mile" to residents' homes unless it has already planned to do so (though dozens have decided to do it on their own anyway, and have had success).
San Francisco's average internet speeds don't even rank in the top 100 municipalities in the country, but, like many other places, most of the city is wired with municipal fiber that's used by government officials, police stations, and city colleges. In 2008, the city made some of that network available to low-rise public housing projects, but still doesn't offer fiber to its other residents.
"We've met with them several times over the past three years, but they can't figure out how to work with a local company," Alex Menendez, who helps run MonkeyBrains, a small ISP based in the city, told me. "They don't run a business and can't figure out how to sell it, how to price it. We would love to do fiber to the home, but it doesn't make sense for us to use the city's at the current pricing."
RELATED: Two Brothers Built Their Own ISP on the Roof of a Supermarket in Brooklyn
Menendez told me that, after paying what the city wants to charge, he'd have to sell fiber access to customers at $200 a month just to break even.
Instead, the company is trying a pilot program with the city to offer fiber to businesses in certain office buildings. The plan is to build an "island of fiber" in seven buildings in the citybut he doesn't see the company, or the city for that matter, offering up fiber to its residents.
It's not for a lack of interest. I asked him if more people have signed up since the FCC offered up its plan to create an internet "fast lane."
RELATED: A Revolving Door of Telecom Lobbyists Is Paving a Fast Lane Over the Open Web
"It's definitely picked up. It's been a steady flowwe have more business than we're staffed for, and we have more business than we can do," he said. "These folks care about net neutrality, and our customers like being able to call a number and talk to someone who really controls a good size of the business."
Unfortunately, those peopleand millions of others around the countrywill have to settle for Internet speeds that are relatively run-of-the-mill, while tons of unused fiber sits beneath them.
--------------
Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With FiberBut Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused
In light of the ongoing net neutrality battle, many people have begun looking to Google and its promise of high-speed fiber as a potential saving grace from companies that want to create an "internet fast lane." Well, the fact is, even without Google, many communities and cities throughout the country are already wired with fiberthey just don't let their residents use it.
The reasons vary by city, but in many cases, the reason you can't get gigabit internet speedswithout the threat of that service being provided by a company that wants to discriminate against certain types of trafficis because of the giant telecom businesses that want to kill net neutrality in the first place.
RELATED: Why It's So Hard to Bring Gigabit Internet to the US
Throughout the country, companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, and Verizon have signed agreements with cities that prohibit local governments from becoming internet service providers and prohibit municipalities from selling or leasing their fiber to local startups who would compete with these huge corporations.
Because ISPs often double as cable and telephone companies, during contract negotiations with governments, they'll often offer incentives to the governmentsuch as better or faster service, earlier access to (their company's) cable internet for residents, and the likein exchange for a non-compete clause.
To be clear, these are often strictly local agreements between cities and cable giants.
In Washington DC, for instance, the country's first 100 Gbps fiber network has been available to nonprofit organizations since 2006but not to any of the city's residents. During a re-negotiation with Comcast in 1999 in which the company threatened to cut off cable service to the city, Comcast agreed to provide some of its fiber access to the city for the government's "exclusive use."
WATCH: Motherboard's documentary about the hackers trying to build a distributed network
"The 1999 agreement was conditioned in important ways," former Obama administration assistant and Harvard University researcher Susan Crawford wrote in a recent paper examining the city's fiber network. "First, the city agreed not to lease or sell the fiber. Second, the contract required that the city not 'engage in any activities or outcomes that would result in business competition between the District and Comcast or that may result in loss of business opportunity for Comcast.'"
Comcast never even made its fiber available to the city, but that agreement, and a future one with Verizon, has, in part, kept the city's DC-NET fiber network out of residents' homes.
The intent was never to take the business away from Verizon or Comcast, Anil Sharma, director of operations for DC-NET, told Washington City Paper last year. Our target audience always was community anchor institutions.
What happened in DC is not uncommon. According to MuniNetworks, a group that tracks community access to fiber nationwide, at least 20 states have laws or other regulatory barriers that make it illegal or difficult for communities to offer fiber access to their residents. Even in states where there are no official rules, non-compete agreements between government and big business are common.
[Broken External Image]
These are the cities and towns where residents can access community fiber. Image: MuniNetworks
What happens then are so-called "middle-mile" projects, where government buildings, schools, and nonprofit groups can be wired up, but expanded access to consumers is met with stiff lobbying opposition and threats from larger ISPs.
"A full fiber-to-the-premises model, on the other hand, might attract the attention of the entire national communications industry and related industries," New America Foundation researchers wrote in a May report called "The Art of the Possible: An Overview of Public Broadband Options." "That is because the competition enabled by a high-capacity fiber-to-the-premises infrastructure would be perceived as a direct challenge to the interests of incumbent players in the current market structure."
There are, however, glimmers of hope.
Cities are beginning to see the importance of providing their residents with cheap, fast, and open broadband networks, and at least 89 cities and towns nationwide now offer fiber to their residents as a publicly owned utility. Patrick Lucey, one of the authors of the New America report, told me that the number of communities that actually offer fiber "doesn't capture the amount of conversations and attention that broadband infrastructure is getting."
Officials in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which offers gigabit fiber to more than 39,000 residents, said that they initially invested in fiber to "control their own destiny." Wilson, North Carolina, a city of 50,000 people, offers the fastest internet speeds in the entire state and has noticed a population growth and a marked increase in the number of businesses relocating to and forming in the city.
RELATED: This Rural Community Is Building Its Own Gigabit Internet Network
"A lot of these small communities have decided to make the decision to try to try to keep young people from moving away and have decided to invest in this," Lucey said. "It's not just about having broadband internet so you can watch Netflix, it's about making sure schools and first responders have the bandwidth capabilities they need. To have libraries and hospitals wired up and to give residents the chance to take advantage of it."
[Broken External Image]
Fiber availability (from any company) for US residents. Image: US Broadband Map
Meanwhile, cities that are already wired up but don't have restrictive agreements with a major ISP are looking for ways to lease or sell it off to smaller, local ISPsbut, unfortunately, the business model appears elusive in many places. Despite the fact that this fiber often exists in the ground, it's expensive and cumbersome for a citywithout the help of an ISPto go the "last mile" to residents' homes unless it has already planned to do so (though dozens have decided to do it on their own anyway, and have had success).
San Francisco's average internet speeds don't even rank in the top 100 municipalities in the country, but, like many other places, most of the city is wired with municipal fiber that's used by government officials, police stations, and city colleges. In 2008, the city made some of that network available to low-rise public housing projects, but still doesn't offer fiber to its other residents.
"We've met with them several times over the past three years, but they can't figure out how to work with a local company," Alex Menendez, who helps run MonkeyBrains, a small ISP based in the city, told me. "They don't run a business and can't figure out how to sell it, how to price it. We would love to do fiber to the home, but it doesn't make sense for us to use the city's at the current pricing."
RELATED: Two Brothers Built Their Own ISP on the Roof of a Supermarket in Brooklyn
Menendez told me that, after paying what the city wants to charge, he'd have to sell fiber access to customers at $200 a month just to break even.
Instead, the company is trying a pilot program with the city to offer fiber to businesses in certain office buildings. The plan is to build an "island of fiber" in seven buildings in the citybut he doesn't see the company, or the city for that matter, offering up fiber to its residents.
It's not for a lack of interest. I asked him if more people have signed up since the FCC offered up its plan to create an internet "fast lane."
RELATED: A Revolving Door of Telecom Lobbyists Is Paving a Fast Lane Over the Open Web
"It's definitely picked up. It's been a steady flowwe have more business than we're staffed for, and we have more business than we can do," he said. "These folks care about net neutrality, and our customers like being able to call a number and talk to someone who really controls a good size of the business."
Unfortunately, those peopleand millions of others around the countrywill have to settle for Internet speeds that are relatively run-of-the-mill, while tons of unused fiber sits beneath them.
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