[opendtv] Re: FCC issues net neutrality rules in face of Congress and carriers
- From: max <opendtv@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:41:07 -0700 (PDT)
This is the declaration by telco CEO Edward Whitacre that kicked off the net
neutrality debate:
http://www.businessweek.com/@@n34h*IUQu7KtOwgA/magazine/content/05_45/b3958092.htm
Q: How concerned are you about Internet upstarts like Google (GOOG ), MSN,
Vonage, and others?
A: How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband
pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do
is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have
spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have
to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the
portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?
The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies
have made an investment and for a Google or Yahoo! (YHOO ) or Vonage or anybody
to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts!
---
Now this was mostly fantasy, since even the largest telco/cableco doesn't have
sufficient market power to get away with extortion (after a few more mergers,
they might). But you can't blame regulators for acting, since the telcos are
openly boasting of their ability and willingness to engage in
anti-competitive/monopolistic practices. They asked for it, and they're getting
it. Nobody should have any sympathy.
By the way, hardware companies like Intel that are pro-Internet and generally
opposed to telco regulation are pro-net-neutrality. It's not just content
providers that want net neutrality; almost everyone does. The only issue is
whether competition will naturally restrain the worst impulses of telco CEOs,
in which case regulation is unneccesary (but harmless).
Dan
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