Net Neutrality

[Cavatt]

https://www.wired.com/story/koch-br...lding-broadband/amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

[czvo]

View: https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/944364276080406528

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

To the effect of "this was never a problem;" oh but yes it was, and we can go through over many such problems in the past, from 1996 to 2015.

How could there have been problems from 1996 to 2015 if everyone followed net neutrality? Must have been pretty minor.

 

[Triplethreat]

So @gourimoko...

How has Net Neutrality repeal affected you personally over the last 2 years?

 

[inliner311]

So @gourimoko...

How has Net Neutrality repeal affected you personally over the last 2 years?

I think the ISPs are currently in holding pattern with any of their net neutrality stuff. They know it's a issue that could come into the public eye if they start doing anything that annoy or piss off customers. It's an unsettled issue that could quickly switch back in two years.

Also the fact that most ISPs were also selling cable and/or satellite TV, they currently have bigger problems on their hands. Cord cutting is a huge issue for them and none have figured out an actually solution to stop their customer losses every quarter. At&t's CEO was just throwing shit at the wall last week to find a solution. Uverse, DirecTV, and DirecTV now are all losing subscribers. WatchTV's subscriber base has stalled. He threw out that they are going to put out 5 new services and skinny bundled by the end of the year.

I think pure cord cutting with an antenna and a couple cheap steaming services like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon video is becoming more and more of a option for alot of people and families. If you aren't tied to your ISP for TV then it's that much harder to exploit customers with any non-net neutrality stuff, especially if there are options.

I'm actually surprised how Verizon is approaching fixed 5g wireless internet. They signed an agreement with YouTube tv the other day, so they are basically bowing out of tv service. They are giving no data caps and no contracts. We might actually see Verizon and At&t finally compete with each other for home internet customers instead of sticking to their territories.

 

[The Oi]

Someone ELI5 where we are with this.

 

[Sebastian]

So @gourimoko...

How has Net Neutrality repeal affected you personally over the last 2 years?

I guess it depends if he lives in Sonama. @gourimoko

This thread is close to becoming political.

Verizon Throttled Fire Department’s “unlimited” Data During Calif. Wildfire
Fire dep't had to pay twice as much to lift throttling during wildfire response.

Update: The Santa Clara fire department has responded to Verizon's claim that the throttling was just a customer service error and "has nothing to do with net neutrality." To the contrary, "Verizon's throttling has everything to do with net neutrality," a county official said.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...rtments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/

 

[inliner311]

Someone ELI5 where we are with this.

Basically nowhere. Each presidential administration can change the net neutrality rules so they can be changed in 2 years if someone pro net neutrality comes in.

Public support for net neutrality is extremely high, I've seen number of 80%+. The telecom companies don't want to rock the boat currently because they know if they do, it will spark a fire storm of hate and it could push Congress to do something before the next election or after the election.

Most of the telecom companies say they just want long term rules. It's in their best interest to keep from doing anything that will get the public against them and impose real strong net neutrality rules. Basically if they behave right now, they might get a say in the rules imposed on them when Congress decides to do something about it.

Also the telecom companies are too wrapped up with losing tv subscribers right now that if they starting losing internet subscribers too they won't know what to do. There will be more options at least in urban areas when 5g fixed wireless starts coming to more markets. Verizon, T-Mobile, At&t, Sprint and Dish will all have 5g fixed wireless options in the future.

 

[gourimoko]

So @gourimoko...

How has Net Neutrality repeal affected you personally over the last 2 years?

Well FWIW, Net Neutrality ended 11 months ago, not 2 years ago. Since then there has been industry confusion regarding next steps given the 2018 midterms and the upcoming elections signal that the next Congress is very likely to pass a net neutrality bill.

Additionally, Verizon has rescinded it's promise to actually increase capital expenditures over the past year; indicating that the promise to build out larger networks as a result of greater controls was false.

And as was stated up-thread, Verizon has already started throttling users and numerous ISPs have started / continued the practice of filtering/throttling content based on what it is rather than treating user bandwidth indiscriminately.

 

[Huber.]

Well FWIW, Net Neutrality ended 11 months ago, not 2 years ago. Since then there has been industry confusion regarding next steps given the 2018 midterms and the upcoming elections signal that the next Congress is very likely to pass a net neutrality bill.

Additionally, Verizon has rescinded it's promise to actually increase capital expenditures over the past year; indicating that the promise to build out larger networks as a result of greater controls was false.

And as was stated up-thread, Verizon has already started throttling users and numerous ISPs have started / continued the practice of filtering/throttling content based on what it is rather than treating user bandwidth indiscriminately.

Verizon began selling throttling plans in Feb 2017, well before 11 months ago. TMobile and others well before that.

 

[gourimoko]

Verizon began selling throttling plans in Feb 2017, well before 11 months ago. TMobile and others well before that.

There's a misunderstanding here. I'm referring to throttling based on content, not simply throttling of all traffic. "Throttling" of all traffic has nothing to do with net neutrality. The issue here is the throttling of traffic based on what it is or where it's going. That was an open question being challenged by the FCC when the current administration came into power, and back in Feb 2017 (as you indicated) former Verizon employee Ajit Pai made it clear he was rolling back consumer protections including net neutrality.

Net neutrality officially ended 11 months ago; but there was a question as to whether or not Congress would step in and uphold the previous administrations' positions given they have broad support among consumers. That didn't happen.

 

[Wrathe]

There's a misunderstanding here. I'm referring to throttling based on content, not simply throttling of all traffic. "Throttling" of all traffic has nothing to do with net neutrality. The issue here is the throttling of traffic based on what it is or where it's going. That was an open question being challenged by the FCC when the current administration came into power, and back in Feb 2017 (as you indicated) former Verizon employee Ajit Pai made it clear he was rolling back consumer protections including net neutrality.

Net neutrality officially ended 11 months ago; but there was a question as to whether or not Congress would step in and uphold the previous administrations' positions given they have broad support among consumers. That didn't happen.

Haven't they done that for a long time w/ things like bittorrent?

 

[gourimoko]

Haven't they done that for a long time w/ things like bittorrent?

More so in years past, but yes definitely. ISPs have always wanted the authority to block and throttle torrents and large downloads.

 

[TopGun]

SpaceX is launching their first Starlink internet satellites today. Seems like 3 or 4 companies are ramping up to create satellite broadband internet service. If at least a couple of them succeed, wired ISPs with localized monopolies might have to face actual competition.

 

[inliner311]

SpaceX is launching their first Starlink internet satellites today. Seems like 3 or 4 companies are ramping up to create satellite broadband internet service. If at least a couple of them succeed, wired ISPs with localized monopolies might have to face actual competition.

We have no clue yet what the speeds or cost will be like. SpaceX just says they are going to be cheaper than the current satellite internet options which are real expensive.

Hopefully the satellite and fix 5g from companies that are currently not in the internet provider market will be enough for real competition.