Technobarons of the 21st century (HR 5252 COPE)[A MUST READ!]

The Independent ^ | May 17, 2006 | Fiona Morgan

[Cacique]

Technobarons of the 21st century


BY FIONA MORGAN

SNIP

John D. Rockefeller realized that the way to control the oil market was to control the transport of oil. So in 1871, he colluded with the railroad industry to form a cartel called the South Improvement Company. The rate to ship oil doubled, but Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company would get rebates for every gallon of oil shipped, even those shipped by his competitors. South would also collect information on the destinations, costs and dates of competitors' oil shipments.

Once word leaked, independent oil producers revolted and managed to stop South before it shipped a single gallon. But to a great extent, the damage had been done. Rockefeller offered to buy out his competitors, showing them his books so they'd know what they were up against. They had a choice: Sell out now, or be run into the ground. Standard Oil went on to control the production of oil throughout the United States until the Supreme Court broke it up in 1911.

SNIP....... It's more than a stale metaphor for talking about the abstract technicalities of the Internet. The way valuable goods are delivered--be they gallons of oil or binary packets--hasn't changed much. When the invention of radio and telephones spurred Congress to regulate communications, legislators used transportation law as a model. Now, as Congress is working on its first major telecommunications bill since 1996, telecom and cable companies are floating the idea of a preferred status for content providers who are willing to pay for fast downloads, with slower service for everyone else--an Information Super-Tollway.

[Cacique]

In the longterm this affects this website and it's ability to diseminate information.

[driftdiver]

"The internet was built at taxpayer expense when it was the arpanet. While there is no doubdt that the telecom companies have spent large amounts on infrastructure, they have also benefited."

Not arguing with you just don't think a private company is the answer. The telecom companies are making huge amounts of money and that money is feeding into washinton. The corruption of Enron and Worldcom still exists in the telecom companies.

[Cacique]

Yes and they will vote on it at 3 AM when we are all asleep. This is another boondogle like campaign finance reform which everyone said the SCOTUS would overturn. I am still waiting for that one.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BTTT.

[SE Mom]

Have you heard anything about this?

[Peach]

I hadn't heard of this and although I readily admit I don't understand key parts of the legislation and how this all works, it seems like a lot of freepers and others on the internet think this is a really dangerous and horrible thing for freedom of the net.

[Cacique]

Thanks for bumping it up

[khnyny]

bttt

[Cacique]

Thanks, I wish more people were aware what our congress criters are up to.

[SE Mom]

bttt

[ShadowAce]

[roaddog727]

Bump

[Cacique]

I'd appreciate it if you could ping your ping list.

[A. Pole]

I'd appreciate it if you could ping your ping list.

I already used up my self-imposed daily ping limit :) But I hope that this response will be noticed.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

You're welcome. :-)

[Cacique]

I hope so too.

[evilC]

For the "other side" to this you can read these articles:

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1365
PDF warning! It is a bit long, at 28 pages, but does make the "anti-neutrality" case in a clear manner.

http://www.mises.org/story/2139
Also looks at the potential problems of net neutrality legislation.

[N3WBI3]

OSS PING

If you are interested in the OSS ping list please mail me

[antiRepublicrat]

There is no such thing as 'price gouging' or 'monopolies'

There are monopolies, but they aren't necessarily a bad thing. What's bad, and illegal, is the abuse of monopoly power. That's what Rockefeller did, and what Microsoft did.

"Price gouging" is, of course, simply the free market at work. If gas stations keep prices normal in times of high demand (Katrina), they run out of gas. If they set the price high, then not everybody fills up their tank and there's gas for more people. IOW, "price gouging" is a natural counter to short-term runs on a commodity.

[antiRepublicrat]

For the "other side" to this you can read these articles:

Google and others may be argued, but Skype is a real sticking point. Sprint offers VOIP, and requiring Skype to pay extra to offer their VOIP is anticompetitive.

For the rest, this is simply greed. Telcos already get paid by Google et. al. to push traffic out, and telcos already get paid by the consumers to take traffic in. If they're hurting for money to cover infrastructure, then those rates simply need to go up.