“3) People who want their neighbors to pay for their 24hr-a-day Netflix habit”
That’s a very simplistic view. Companies like Comcast sell high profit TV services. They have an extreme vested interest in killing companies selling entertainment over IP. Without meaningful competition in many areas, without some type of enforcement they’re likely to do as they have done, and degrade or block access to competitors. AT&T is said to be rolling out an à la carte Internet TV service next year. We’ll see how that goes...
I’m not in favor of treating ISPs as utilities circa 1930, but when I pay for Internet service, I expect the best possible unfiltered access to whichever site I access. Without some type of formal guarantee, there’s nothing to stop Comcast or AT&T from (for instance) blocking or degrading conservative sites. How would you feel about that?
If we can get to the point where there are multiple real ISPs (not recycled cable TV companies) for most locations, that would help a lot. I’m also looking forward to the SpaceX satellite constellation making first-rate, low-latency service available everywhere, especially rural areas.
How do you feel about some unelected, un-fireable bureaucrat at the FCC ordering ISP providers to throttle down Free Republic's packet transmissions because it doesn't produce the "correct" type of content? You DO realize that "Net Neutrality" is the exact opposite of what the title says, don't you?
Sorry, I don't want Washington DC given power over the internet. Things worked just fine before 2015, thank you.
Yes, Comcast might slow down or charge more for Netflix so Comcast’s TV service gets priority and is cheaper.
That means there is a business opportunity to offer internet that supports Netflix.
Someone else could offer internet service without any streaming at all. There are people who just want email and Facebook, nothing else. A very low cost service would be perfect for them.
Open markets breed competition and innovative solutions. That is why our healthcare system works the same way as it did in the 1970s....because government control and regulations have forced it to stagnate and not innovate in the way it operates.
IF that is the guarantee or service level agreement in the contract you signed...
The problem with the Net Neutrality rules is that they were only enacted in 2015. I was a Netflix streamer long before that, and I never had a problem. And my carrier is Time Warner, so they theoretically lost some revenue. I used to be a Time Warner voip customer, too. I switched that a few years ago and have never had a problem with that. The Net Neutrality lobby makes up these horror stories, and then attacks the carriers. I think that is called the straw man argument. I ma not swayed.
Now if the carrier actually did try some hanky-panky with Netfix, there is already an easy solution. Get a VPN account and set it up on your router. Then your carrier cannot know what you are doing. They can’t ban vpns, either, because these days everyone who works at home has to use one. I stream stuff over a vpn all the time and it works just fine. All the carrier sees is this pipe going somewhere with encrypted data.
If there actually seems to be a problem, then we can talk about regulation. AFAIK there isn’t, so, these control freaks need to leave it alone.