For years, the key rationale given by broadband providers for implementing data caps was that it was the only way they could deal with “congestion.” Of course, for years, independent researchers showed that this was bogus, and there was no data crunch coming. If you actually caught a technologist from a broadband provider, rather than a business person or lobbyist, they’d quietly admit that there was no congestion problem, and that basic upgrades and network maintenance could easily deal with the growth in usage. But, of course, that took away the broadband providers’ chief reason for crying about how they “need” data caps. The reality, of course, is that data caps are all about increasing revenue for broadband providers — in a market that is already quite profitable. But if they can hide behind the claims that they need to do this to deal with congestion, they can justify it to regulators and (they hope) the public.
Of course, enough people have been calling this explanation out as completely bogus that it appears that even the broadband companies’ own lobbyists may finally be dropping this line of reasoning. Former FCC boss Michael Powell, who is now the cable industry’s chief lobbyist (president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association — NCTA), has finallyadmitted caps aren’t about congestion:
Michael Powell told a Minority Media and Telecommunications Association audience that cable’s interest in usage-based pricing was not principally about network congestion, but instead about pricing fairness…Asked by MMTC president David Honig to weigh in on data caps, Powell said that while a lot of people had tried to label the cable industry’s interest in the issue as about congestion management. “That’s wrong,” he said. “Our principal purpose is how to fairly monetize a high fixed cost.”
Of course, as Broadband Reports notes, Powell is jumping from one myth (congestion) to another (fairness) that is just as ridiculous. If it was true, we’d see at least some prices going down. But we don’t.
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I saw a comment on this story elsewhere on the internet that suggested another big reason they cap data is to basically “punish” people for watching movies/tv shows through sources other then their TV channels.
I’m inclined to agree, I probably wouldn’t use the word ‘punish’ but it’s certainly a way to try and discourage it.
kittybuffalo:
Activate the Mechanism!: joerobsbanks: communismchills: solitarysocialist: tinglepolitics: Its…
joerobsbanks:
communismchills:
solitarysocialist:
tinglepolitics:
Its funny to me when people complain about how evil capitalism is while on the internet. If capitalism is so evil why do you use a computer, a phone, medicine, cars, tvs, air conditioning, electric…
Actually the internet was “invented” with money from the state, or in a socialized manner. Between the government money for the military and the grant money given to universities in order to develop the internet and email the real question is since you hate socialism so much why do you use the internet?
I completely forgot to mention that and it took kittybuffalo’s post to remind me.
The project the internet was grown out from was ARPNET.
Once again, the tumblr conservatives don’t know what the hell they are talking about.
(via theliberaltony)
BOSTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal Communications Commission said he supports cable companies’ charging for Internet based on how much a subscriber uses the service, and also welcomed a cable industry initiative to share Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.
Most Internet service providers charge a flat fee and price their packages based on the speed of the service. Cable providers have been considering charging based on usage, similar to the way utilities charge for electricity.
“Usage-based pricing would help drive efficiency in the networks,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said on Tuesday, speaking at the cable industry’s annual NCTA Show.
Genachowski said usage-based pricing would also be fairer to users and would encourage competition.
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OH FUCK NO.
Just NO.
This is a very bad thing.
lagoble:
abaldwin360:
I came across this post on reddit, I have no idea how much truth there is to it or if it’s purely fiction, but I found it interesting.
Basically, it’s interesting because I have noticed how a lot of right-leaning comments on news stories and posts on message boards seem to hit the same exact points over and over again and have similar tones.
I always chalked it up to repeating Fox News and Conservative radio talking points and similar types of of people being drawn to a particular political ideology.
It’s a good read, and gave me something to think about. I just wish there was more evidence of this actually happening.
I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve read (and am too lazy to look up the reference, sorry) that this happens in China and N. Korea - that the govts hire people to comment on news stories - that if the same mantra is repeated enough that individuals think they are the odd ones out and something is wrong with them…. so they start parroting the party lines too. Classic brainwashing techniques anyone?? Religions do this as well.
Yeah, it’s funny. I used to frequent message boards a lot, and when there would be a political or religious debate, the conservatives would all jump in and dogpile anyone arguing from a liberal stand point, focus in on a very small part of their argument and berate them for being a “loony liberal” or some other such “catch phrase”.
They also always seemed very fond of ad-hominem and guilt by association-type arguments.
I came across this post on reddit, I have no idea how much truth there is to it or if it’s purely fiction, but I found it interesting.
Basically, it’s interesting because I have noticed how a lot of right-leaning comments on news stories and posts on message boards seem to hit the same exact points over and over again and have similar tones.
I always chalked it up to repeating Fox News and Conservative radio talking points and similar types of of people being drawn to a particular political ideology.
It’s a good read, and gave me something to think about. I just wish there was more evidence of this actually happening.
An onrush of condemnation and criticism kept the SOPA and PIPA acts from passing earlier this year, but US lawmakers have already authored another authoritarian bill that could give them free reign to creep the Web in the name of cybersecurity.
As congressmen in Washington consider how to handle the ongoing issue of cyberattacks, some legislators have lent their support to a new act that, if passed, would let the government pry into the personal correspondence of anyone of their choosing.
H.R. 3523, a piece of legislation dubbed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (or CISPA for short), has been created under the guise of being a necessary implement in America’s war against cyberattacks. But the vague verbiage contained within the pages of the paper could allow Congress to circumvent existing exemptions to online privacy laws and essentially monitor, censor and stop any online communication that it considers disruptive to the government or private parties.
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By Gautham Nagesh | The Hill
An online piracy bill in the House would “criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself,” according to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt said the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) would punish Web firms, including search engines, that link to foreign websites dedicated to online piracy. He said implementing the bill as written would effectively break the Internet.
“By criminalizing links, what these bills do is they force you to take content off the Internet,” Schmidt said, calling it a form of censorship.
The search giant has been at the forefront of a tech industry backlash against the legislation from House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).
“If Congress writes a bad law, we all suffer,” Schmidt said.
He compared the proposal to the Web censorship practiced by repressive foreign governments like China and doubled down on that comparison when speaking with reporters after his remarks at the Economic Club of Washington.
[FULL STORY]
This is actually what big media companies want, they are using piracy as a justification, as always, but what this is really about is getting rid of alternate forms of media distribution. They don’t want to be cut out of the pie, to them, profits are more important than your freedom.
The internet censorship bill “SOPA” is in big trouble—you may have killed it. But now the forces behind SOPA are pushing another censorship bill (“PROTECT IP”) through the Senate.
Don’t let them. Call your Senators now, and use our new calling widget to drive thousands of calls to the Senate.
Senators need to know that PROTECT IP is just as controversial as SOPA. And we’ve made it super-easy to call. Just enter your phone number, and don’t worry if you’re not sure what to say. We’ll give you talking points before we connect you. Click the banner to get started:
This is a part of an effort of a coalition of sites and groups all over the internet. And the chorus of opposition is growing every day — the NYTimes, LATimes, and even Microsoft have come out against SOPA because of the momentum you helped create.
The Senate is going to try to pass their internet censorship bill between now and Christmas, and they could take it up as early as this week. Take action today, and if you have a website, blog, or Tumblr page, embed our call widget in your site!
Let’s make history together. —Tiffiniy Cheng, Fight for the Future
Click here to join the big call-in day!
I received this e-mail this morning from Demand Progress:
The bill’s opponents — tech companies, free speech and human rights activists, and hundreds of thousands of Internet users — won’t have a voice.
Click here to demand that opponents of the Blacklist Bill be allowed to testify — it’ll just take a second
This is the most offensive Internet legislation we’ve seen in years.
It will give the government and corporations new powers to block Americans’ access to sites that are accused of copyright infringement, force sites like YouTube to go to new lengths to police users’ contributions, and put people in prison for streaming certain content online.
The bill will wreck much of what’s great about the Internet, and this sham of a hearing represents everything that’s broken about our political system.
Cick here to demand that opponents of the Blacklist Bill be allowed to testify this week
And we keep pressing forward,
-The Demand Progress team
