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Network Neutrality fight enters a brutal, contentious phase

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Fatigue... (Score: 3, Insightful)

by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-05-09 00:42 (#1G9)

I definitely care about net neutrality, but I probably don't know the facts. I keep A Guide to the Open Internet handy to point people at, but it was created some time ago and perhaps fails to reflect or address the latest threat.

This payola internet is such an obviously terrible idea. "Nice packets ya got there. Be a shame if anything happened to them." I'm so very disappointed in Netflix caving to Comcast and Verizon. ISPs should be dumb pipes, nothing more, and certainly not content providers. I'm so angry and frustrated with this that I've stopped making sense. I've been angry and frustrated for so long that I'm in danger of no longer being able to care. Perhaps that was the plan all along: keep grinding away at the issue until we all get so tired of fighting we give in to apathy. I really hope I'm alone in this feeling. We need to keep fighting.

The "demo the slow lane" proposal is interesting and has merit. To make a real impression it will take widespread participation and, particularly, the involvement of high-profile players. I hope it gathers sufficient momentum.

[Aside: the same guy who created the infographic linked above, has also created No Way NSA ]

Re: Fatigue... (Score: 3, Interesting)

by nightsky30@pipedot.org on 2014-05-09 12:37 (#1GC)

It is rather sad that we let things like this continue to happen. It's even sadder that society won't utter a single cry until they miss the new episode of Honey Boo Boo. I'm already tied to Comcast with a damned iron ball and chain. I'm already paying more money to get a faster tiered connection. I already cancelled my TV 3 years ago because they were charging a MST, I can't just pay for 1 channel, and the only show or channel I cared about was AMC. Screw Honey Boo Boo and the rest of the garbage that litters the cable spectrum. They don't offer channels a-la-carte because of all the deals that make up the packages they shovel at us. So I went with NetFlix, and was happy until recently. Then ISPs started throttling the streaming traffic and whining because nobody wants their services, cable TV or XFinity on Demand.

It makes no sense talking about fast lanes, slow lanes, and different types of packets, shaping, throttling, etc. As I mentioned, I'm ALREADY PAYING FOR HIGHER TIERED SPEEDS!!! I love Pipedot, but if this shit continues, I may very well quit Comcast and home internet completely.

Re: Fatigue... (Score: 3, Informative)

by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-05-09 14:29 (#1GD)

It makes no sense talking about fast lanes, slow lanes, and different types of packets, shaping, throttling, etc. As I mentioned, I'm ALREADY PAYING FOR HIGHER TIERED SPEEDS!!!
Oh-so-much this. I've not had a cable TV service in over a decade and I can't remember the last time I turned on my television to watch an OTA broadcast, but it's been literal years. My conduit to entertainment and news is the internet (and a sizable collection of DVDs). It's safe to say, then, that I'm attached to having fast, unimpeded internet access. That said, I have considered and will again consider giving it all up out of sheer frustration, and possibly to make some sort of statement, if threats and degradations continue.

My ISP is in the packet delivery business. They need to understand that and, not that it likely accomplishes anything, I try to remind them of that whenever I go down to the local office to renew my service. It doesn't matter if the "packets" they are delivering to me are in the form of cable TV signals or via the internet, nor does it matter where those packets originate. Their whole job is to deliver the packets I request in a timely manner and unmolested. That is all. Any ISP who gets this will get my business.

The trouble is I live in the US . There is but one choice for ISP in my neighborhood (as is likely the case with many, if not most, US neighborhoods). Thus far they have behaved well, but I do not like the idea that my unfettered internet access is wholly dependent on their continued good graces. There is no competition in their fiefdom and they damn well know it.

Just ran across this article, "Comcast is destroying the principle that makes a competitive internet possible" , which is proving a useful read. The same author has other relevant articles here and here .

Moderation

Time Reason Points Voter
2014-05-09 20:48 Informative +1 nightsky30@pipedot.org
2014-05-09 19:22 Interesting +1 rocks@pipedot.org

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