[opendtv] Re: News: Netflix Partner Says Comcast 'Toll' Threatens Onli
- From: dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 09:36:31 -0800
dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>The reason why we have government regulations is because people seem
>to not be able to operate in ethical manners. If the MVPDs cannot
>see this ethical violation, it appears government regulation is
>going to be required. I realize this opens a whole new discussion
>as to what is ethical.
Craig responded:
"On the surface I agree with Dan, that this has been the primary
argument used by the politicians to get their nose under the tent in
every business they regulate.
"Unfortunatley, once the government and an industry get into the bed
in that tent together, we usually see that the offsprings of these
relationships are a bigger problem than the original reason used to
justify the regulations.
"In a real marketplace, competition deals with these issues. If
someone gets too greedy, someone else will come along and undercut
them to grab a chunk of the market.
"We all should be VERY WORRIED about the FCC assuming the authority to
regulate broadband, and acting to protect us from "unethical
behavior" by the companies they are in bed with."
You make some very valid points, Craig.
When I say that the "reason why we have government regulation...", I don't
mean that I am for it but it often becomes necessary. I completely agree
that our politicians take these situations and use them for their own power
plays and we end up with a worse situation. It seems there are very few
(individuals, companies, politicians, etc.) that really want to do the
"right" thing, even if we had a foundation for what right and wrong was.
I wish there was decent competition in the ISP arena for our market. Here
in Las Vegas, there are some wireless options that promise 1Mb/s and DSL
which is supposedly "fast" but measurements do not back up the claims. I
don't have FTTH to our neighborhood yet but this might not provide much
help: my father has FTTH in Portland, OR and his speeds are no better than
when his DSL was on copper (his calls to the ISP resulted in brief
improvements but then quickly went back to sub 1Mb/s speeds each time.) I
suppose we have 3G and 4G cellular as an option now days but I have no
tests to confirm performance. Any other competition coming down the pike
that you know of?
In the past, the franchise agreements with the Telecom and MVPD services
should have protected the customer. But in this day, both contracts have
lost their teeth. There is very little that local governments can
negotiate with any longer. Here in Las Vegas, the MVPD is franchised with
the state, resulting in no revenue to the local government, absolutely zero
local public cable access, exorbinant fees to any entity subscribing
(including education institutions), and the list goes on and on.
Deregulation has created the potential for many of these situations.
I realize it is all very complex and every decision, regulation (or lack
thereof), fee, etc. all have consequences. It seems like in this day, if
you plug one hole in the dike, someone goes and drills a new one. And if
we tore down the dam (which has been done on several fronts), we would have
to deal with flooding again. I wish we could get back to the concept of
"self-regulating" that our early government embraced. I realize we have
little chance of following these principals in the future.
So we must strike a balance, if we can. I must acquiesce to those with
more knowledge than I to deal with broadband, even if I don't trust them.
Dan
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