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G_Poobah
join:2004-01-17
Schenectady, NY
| Re: Regulation by government is almost always bad "The railroads will grow and expand much more quickly and will provide more content the less the government sticks its nose into it. And whenever there is government regulation the costs will go up as sure as night follows day."
"The telephone systems will grow and expand much more quickly and will provide more content the less the government sticks its nose into it. And whenever there is government regulation the costs will go up as sure as night follows day."
"The highway system will grow and expand much more quickly and will provide more content the less the government sticks its nose into it. And whenever there is government regulation the costs will go up as sure as night follows day."
"The electric grid will grow and expand much more quickly and will provide more content the less the government sticks its nose into it. And whenever there is government regulation the costs will go up as sure as night follows day."
Hmm.. beginning to see a pattern here? The internet as it's grown is a NATURAL MONOPOLY. By definition, it will NOT provide the best value vs. a capitalist competitive industry. Of course, retire_rich and his fellow astrotufers want to suppress that piece of information, as do their spiritual kin the 'fundies'.
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Sure the internet has lots of porn and piracy, but I'm sure there's a downside to it. | |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Budd Lake, NJ
| Re: Regulation by government is almost always bad I'll split retire_rich/golfnsun/old_repub/road_warrior's and g_poobah's points...
On the content and backbone infrastructure, keep it hand's off. On that side issues are very simple and the bottom-line driven way that part works is pretty decent. There's still a shakeout waiting there (ie: "Dedicated Server!! $25/Month!!!" will eventually fail), but the fact that I can buy a few rack units of space and a decent amount of bandwidth and have a site available to the entire internet (until SBC muddies that up with their internet toll charges) for around $400 a month is pretty amazing.
The last mile is where it gets tricky. We are headed towards a cable/telco duopoly where your choices for techy/nerd services dwindle to nothing (even if you want to pay a reasonable premium for them). I could live with a single fiber from a CO to my residence with that fiber under regulation and handled by a single company whose ONLY business is providing that last mile and operating the most basic level of cross-connections to various providers of video/internet/private net/phone/radio/whatever-the-future-brings. That would really please me. Then let the battle happen for each service that can be carried over that line.
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enjoy zesty ranch man-flavored baby tacos responsibly | |
| | Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | Deregulation is the cause for the 2003 blackout. upgrading the Northeast interconnect wasnt optimal for the bottom line so they just let it fail.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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FTCXtreme
join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA
| Deregulating will really help. What the hell are you smoking, The republican crack? The fact is for those of us stuck on dial-up. The government needs to force the telcos and cablecos to deploy, simple as that. No governemtn funding make them deploy. I dotn care about wall street, Wall street can go rot in hell for all i care. The Telcos can go ahead and go bankrupt for all i care as long as I the consumer can get my product.
Personally I wanna go into the boxing ring with Verizons CEO, for a few rounds. The how much I hate them and their crappy services. | |
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shimonmor
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA
 ·wavebroadband
| Re: Regulation by government is almost always bad The cablecos and telcos deploy where they can make a profit. It's called capitalism. Providing service because the government says so may get you broadband but in the end it hurts everyone. But as long as you are happy I guess we should all be willing to sacrifice a little. Kind of like another brilliant invention...welfare.
We live in a market economy. Get used to it. If you want service start your company and we'll see how long before you go bankrupt. Broadband is not a right, it's a luxury. | |
| | | | imanogre
join:2005-11-29
Mcdonough, GA | Re: Regulation by government is almost always bad Electricity is not a right, it's a luxury.
A telephone is not a right, it's a luxury. | |
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shimonmor
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA
·wavebroadband
| Re: Regulation by government is almost always bad said by imanogre  :Electricity is not a right, it's a luxury. A telephone is not a right, it's a luxury. Don't be a fool.
How many homes out there don't have electricity? If you have a power outage it's not the end of the world but it's very inconvenient. Some people won't have heat, won't be able to cook, can't do much, etc... If I loose power I don't have water either which means no flushing or drinking since I'm on a well. So, I think electricity is a necessity.
If my broadband goes out, no big deal. I've lost my source of entertainment. I won't be able to chastise knuckle-headed posters on BBR. Some people have dial-up back-up if necessary.
As for the telephone...that can go either way. I could live without it but many people can't. And with the advent of cellphones telephone service isn't as critical.
How many people out there don't have broadband? I can think of dozens of my friends who don't have it, don't know what it is, don't have a computer and they lead normal lives. But they all do have electricity and telephones. So are they missing out on another "right".
Seems like this country has turned into a bunch of whiners who are demanding that they have all sort of "rights". | |
| | | rshoch
Premium
join:2003-09-01
Santa Ana, CA | Off the top of my head.... A level playing field, a market orientation, adequate security, independent oversight, and strong enforcement should lead to the best outcome for all. | |
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shimonmor
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA
·wavebroadband
| Re: Off the top of my head.... said by rshoch :A level playing field, a market orientation, adequate security, independent oversight, and strong enforcement should lead to the best outcome for all. Easier said than done. More details please. How will all this be implemented? In the end it's just words.
Everyone wants the same things: peace, happiness, comfort, security, etc....
It's how we get there that causes dissension between the liberal and conservative mindset. Some feel peace is achieved by sitting on our hands and becoming isolationists while others feel an aggressive stance is required to corral the recalcitrant of the world. But in the end, both parties are seeking peace.
As for the Internet, we would all like a secure, free-flow of information and services without being overly inundated by advertisements. But do we get there through regulation or deregulation? Do we let corporations convince Congress (through our "wonderful" and "equatable" lobby system) to regulate the Internet for their monetary gain? Because that is what will happen. Do you think Congress will listen to you with your $10,000 bank account and inaudible voice or to XYZ Corp with $2 billion in capital and their army of lawyers and lobbyists? You do the math. | |
| | | rshoch
Premium
join:2003-09-01
Santa Ana, CA
| Some Questions. How did we come from the Declaration of Independence to today?
How did Soviet Communism come into being, and then fail to survive?
How did our agrarian economy transform into an industrial economy and then into a service economy?
How has Wall Street come to serve the investor?
I believe the answers to your questions can be found in many examples around us. | |
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shimonmor
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA
·wavebroadband
| Re: Some Questions. said by rshoch :How did we come from the Declaration of Independence to today? How did Soviet Communism come into being, and then fail to survive? How did our agrarian economy transform into an industrial economy and then into a service economy? How has Wall Street come to serve the investor? I believe the answers to your questions can be found in many examples around us. Huh?? | |
| clecrupt9
join:2002-01-22
GA
| It's Bigger than Just US I think the stakes of the Internet, and getting our policy wrong, are much bigger than most people see. Maybe pay per content is what we end up with, but the internet and access to content is a really a global phenomena. If the US stumbles with its internet policy someone will be watching and perhaps for the first time ever, able to so something about it. What would likely happen is even more innovation and jobs will move overseas. | |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| No regulation? The internet grew out of massive regulation. Lots of government funding, almost exclusively managed by government agencies, hundreds of regulations on allowable activities and strict control by participating institutions on usage. Standards group monitoring every discussion of what software should be used for what operations.
By the time commerical services were opened up (remember those regulations agaisnt commerical use), the structures and tools of the modern internet (including the pivotal telnet/gopher/WAIS/WWW showdown) were firmly settled and established such that commercial operations had to originally play along. Much of what is wrong with the internet now came along as a result of the opening up of the commerical side without the same strict regulation that was in place during the research era.
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ISCABBS - the oldest and largest BBS on the Internet
telnet://whip.isca.uiowa.edu
Member: American Association of Geographers, American Geophysical Union, American Water Resources Association | |
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shimonmor
join:2000-12-30
Sedro Woolley, WA
·wavebroadband
| The Wild, Wild West The analogy to the wild, wild west (maybe that's what "www" stands for) in the article is spot on.
Anyone can be heard on the Internet as long as people are willing to listen and browse to the site. It's a great forum for the lone man trying to be heard. It is a great equalizer. It's not perfect and it has many flaws and is subject to corruption but then so are most "organized" and "regulated" government institutions.
Unfortunately, the Internet will not be left alone. History has shown us there is one phrase that rules all: Money Talks. Those with the big bags of cash will eventually capture and hold the Internet and individuals will no longer be heard. We will be told what advertisers want us to hear. They, of course, know what we want and what's best for us. | |
| | BrotherJPW
join:2003-11-27
Glen Ellyn, IL | DO not reuglate REPEAT!!!
DO NOT REGULATE
MORE TAXES AaHHHHHhhhhhHHhhh | |
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Regulation by government is almost always bad