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To: Halfmanhalfamazing
As with so many other issues, the two sides (those who want regulation, and those who wants the providers to have the freedom to operate) squeeze out the third, and IMHO most appropriate solution: Rather than "trusting" government and regulators, and/or "trusting" the monopolies' profit motives, why not simply remove the monopoly for broadband providers?

Lawrence KS has had two providers (FreeNet has been competing with the local carrier for years now, and prices have come down, and if either blocked content, the other would likely take up those end-users who feel slighted by the change.

Capitalism and Freedom are usually the best answers... especially when government regulation and unresponsive monopolistic mega-companies are the source of the problems... but sadly, few people are talking about this third option.

17 posted on 04/29/2011 11:36:31 AM PDT by Teacher317 (really?)
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To: Teacher317

In most cases, there is no ‘monopoly’. The term is used falsely anyways.

Just to be clear, there are places out there where there’s only one broadband provider, be it comcast, or verizon or whoever.

But in most of your major/semi major cities, you’ve got at least two choices. That is, the cable company competes with the telco to offer broadband. But realistically it’s more like four at a minimum. Again, major/semi major cities, most have at least two cellphone carriers for which you can get a wireless broadband connection. That makes two wireless carriers, a telco, and a cable company. Four.

But for progressives, they have bastardized the word ‘monopoly’ in this instance. You could take a city as large as........ New York, Chicago, or LA.(I dunno the exact numbers in those areas but that’s not pertinent) Let’s say there’s 3 or 5 separate broadband companies that you can get in a city that large.(Not including wireless options)

If the government isn’t involved, progressives will say that private industry has a monopoly. That’s what they did during the obamacare debate, and they’ve done it elsewhere as well. It really isn’t all that different from their bastardization of the phraze ‘civil right’.


18 posted on 04/29/2011 4:43:28 PM PDT by Halfmanhalfamazing ( Net Neutrality - I say a lot of unneutral things.)
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