[opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 01:34:11 +0000
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
How do we measure fairness Bert?
First of all, that was a quote from the article, Craig, not from me. And
secondly, the point of that quote was that this has absolutely nothing to do
with fairness. It might be unfair only if someone's use of Netflix was
preventing you from using broadband. Turns out, that was not the case. If you
read the article, you'll note how the customer service reps were coached to use
double-speak. (Only Craig seems not to understand what double-speak is.)
It seems that everyone is tolerant of data caps on cellular
service, where you can buy service plans with different
monthly data allocations, but for some reason, you think
data caps on wired broadband are unfair.
Again, overly draconian caps, e.g. new caps that prevent one from watching OTT
TV exclusively, without paying more than the overpriced native MVPD streams.
And that's WHY net neutrality rules are needed. The FCC has already said that
it doesn't want to regulate the rates, but that they are monitoring the
situation. So what we are seeing is the "opposition" testing the limits. An
overabundance of greed has a way of backfiring, Craig. Just look at what
happened to all the idiots that abused the phone system, for their unsolicited
calls. They got slapped down hard (not hard enough, IMO -- I continue to ignore
the phone these days).
Once again: for the time being, Internet broadband service is every bit as much
an unavoidable local monopoly as was the telephone. And people expect it to be
just as neutral as the telephone.
Maybe someday there will be so much CAPACITY as to render this
argument moot,
Enough with this vague, generic nonsense. We've been over this too many times.
Sorry, but data caps ARE NOT a threat to Net Neutrality.
You're wrong, and the article explained why (as if any explanation was needed).
So to belabor the obvious: If I drop the premium tier, including HBO, and go to
Netflix instead, let's say for the sake of argument that I save $50/month net.
If the broadband service establishes some new data caps, such that it costs me
an extra $75/month to watch Netflix, is it not obvious that net neutrality was
violated? Anything you do to attempt to keep customers away from the neutral
Internet choices, to favor your own walled-garden options, ends up being much
like throttling or blocking specific sites. Very much a net neutrality issue,
in effect.
Broadband data follows the laws of supply and demand just
as any other commodity...like gasoline.
Funny how broadband nets waste a good 80% of their capacity on broadcast
streams that are mostly unused, and now Craig tries to pretend that the issue
here is scarcity. In fact, Craig was just recently telling us how there is no
capacity problem, because the broadband sites are adding capacity all the time.
Make up your mind, Craig. You're thrashing again. Always ends up this way when
you over-insist on a losing proposition.
YOU choose NOT to pay more for a more capable service.
Why not be FAIR?
For instance, this absurd argument. I'm certainly not impacting on the
broadband capacity of my neighbors, am I Craig? In theory, data caps are
designed to limit egregious overuse of broadband capacity, Craig. If anything,
I'm REDUCING the need for data caps, because I'm NOT impacting on aggregate
capacity. How do you continue to get everything backwards?
Now that the FCC can regulate ISPs and set rates, would you be OK if
they make 25/3 the baseline and require you to pay twice what you pay
today?
Oh, so now it's the FCC that is setting up data caps, Craig? There is no
credible competition for broadband now. When there is no credible competition,
the seller can do whatever he wants. If they overdo it, the FCC, or local
franchise authorities, will surely step in. As they should. It's part of their
job. And again, you're getting things backwards.
The fact that the networks that offer the best broadband performance
Wasting at least 80% of their capacity.
Damn, don't you hate capitalism?
I love it, when it can work. When it can't work, because competition is not
practical, the government has a legitimate role to play. As it did more than
100 years ago, with the telcos.
Nobody is opposed to Net Neutrality Bert.
Anyone who opposes a net neutrality mandate opposes net neutrality. Anyone who
assumes that the monopolistic broadband providers must be trusted to understand
neutrality, because it's magically "ingrained in our Internet culture," in
spite of the evidence to the contrary, is hopelessly naïve, and/or has ulterior
motives.
These arguments from the ultra-right are preposterous, Craig. Much like saying,
we don't need any traffic laws, because "safety is engrained in our driving
culture." Arguments that assume the problem away, when it clearly exists. Why
waste time with such nonsense?
At best, there is a growing consensus that ALL of the
politicians are corrupt,
And when they behave in such a way that they only benefit the special
interests, and/or themselves, then there's good reason to think so.
Consequently, we don’t let them. Just as the FCC got tons of mail on this
topic, forcing them to change their minds and go with a neutrality mandate, we
can do the same with elected officials.
Is the content/distribution oligopoly playing fair?
Having 5 or 6 competing companies is a lot more "fair" than having only one
local monopoly, yes. Most definitely.
Now that we cannot live without it, we find that the government is
using the Internet to track just about everything we do,
A completely different topic of discussion.
The vast majority of Americans have no problem with walled up
services
You don’t, Craig. I've known this forever. You have always opposed any neutral
solutions. But Americans have spoken clearly on net neutrality, and you're
simply not listening. If it was up to you, Craig, the Internet would never have
happened. Which is why you have said that Internet TV spells "doom and gloom."
That is your interpretation. The courts never said that the FCC must
classify broadband as a Title II service.
I quoted this too many times to have to repeat. What the courts said was that
**if** the FCC insists on classifying broadband service as an "information
service," **then** it cannot impose neutrality restrictions. There's nothing
ambiguous about what the courts said, Craig. The courts have had **no problem
at all** with telco neutrality, for more than a century.
It has NOT provided competition.
ROTFL. So, HBO loses, and Netflix gains, and Craig sees no correlation.
Traditional MVPD subscriptions decline, and broadband subscriptions increase,
and Craig sees no correlation. The TV industry bosses are way beyond your
thinking, Craig. They do see the competition, and they are taking steps to
address it.
I might add that more stores selling the same stuff at the same
bloated prices is not competition - just more stores...
Not what's happening. The more the competition, the less this can happen. Ever
since 2013, things have started to change.
Really? You have at least four options for TV bundles,
How many broadband providers do you have, Craig? Answer: one. I don’t consider
any 4G an option for you everyday home use. Until 4G or 5G become options, you
only have one service. I have two: Cox or FiOS. Hardly adequate competition.
And yes, wireless broadband will become a competitive factor.
And as I said on multiple occasions, when this happens, then the Title II
classification perhaps can be revisited. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress
have to get a clue. People want a neutral Internet. Speaking up against a
neutral Internet is just plain stupid. The double-speak they might indulge in,
when doing so, is transparent.
Bert
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld - Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: Congress to cable customers: Stop your whining | InfoWorld- Manfredi, Albert E