[ale] OT: Craig Newmark of Craig's List on Net Neutrality

[Marvin, International Martian of Mystery]

Jim Popovitch wrote:
> Pete Hardie wrote:
>   
>> On 6/10/06, Jim Popovitch <jimpop at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> Pete Hardie wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Personally, I think it's closer to the company that built my
>>>> subdivision's roads requiring me
>>>> to rent a vehicle from them to drive on those roads.
>>>>         
>>> Hey, it's almost like that today.  You have to have a license (and a
>>> licensed vehicle too) to use the roads provided by others.  You also
>>> have to have insurance, pay ad valorem taxes, get tested, and (if
>>> required) use special equipment.  Additionally, based on your age and
>>> conduct you can be restricted from said roadways during certain times of
>>> the day.
>>>       
>> That's not quite the same - your speaking of the government, who might
>> be presumed
>> to own the roads.  I'm speaking of the developer who physically built the roads
>> in the subdivision.
>>     
>
> The developer just can't go a build a road.  They have to get regulatory 
> approval, zoning laws, etc.  They have to get approval to connect to 
<snip>

I think all the metaphors being tossed around really just cloud the
issue.   What the issue is (from my perspective) is that I'm paying my
provider $XX.00 a month for X amount of bandwidth (in my case, around 50
bux a month for 6mps downloads)- I'm not paying that money so Comcast
can selectively limit my bandwidth when I want to connect to a content
provider that didn't pay them off.  I want to be able to use my
bandwidth downstream and up, the way I see fit, and that's what I'm
paying for- not to connect to whom and what Comcast wants me to connect
to. 

The "tierd internet" crap is just a step backwards to the bad old days
when only people with the deepest of pockets could provide content (a-la
broadcast tee-vee and cable), when the phone companies could charge you
gazillions of dollars to call San Francisco from Atlanta, and the other
rip-offs Ma Bell and her bastard daughters had grown comfortable
burdening their subscribers with.