I think we are toast.<p>Last time during the title 2 classification we the people had the Online Oligarch on our side. Not because Google,netflix , and amazon cared about the people, but because out of their own survival. Had net neutrality principles been killed then Google, netflix, and Amazon would have been at the mercy of the customers ISP.<p>What worries me now is that I don't see the same level of efforts by the Big online Oligarch, this time around. Heck, even google has slowed their google fiber business.<p>I think we are seeing the creation of one of the biggest Oligarch alliance in the making.<p>I wonder if the ISP oligarch and the online Oligarch have come to an agreement where they will not compete with each other.<p>In other words Comcast won't go into the streaming business, search business , social media business, merchant business as long as Netflix,google,facebook,twitter, and Amazon pay them a percentage.In return comcast will throttle the existing Online Oligarchs competition.<p>Its a win for both the ISP and now the Online Oligarch. the end result doesn't change the consumers get Fd and now will be at the mercy of both the ISP oligarch and the Online Oligarch.
Having lived in countries that separate access/transport from bits, this is the way to do it (UK, Japan, etc.) Transport is like water or electricity - it should be provided like a public utility. Internet services should be competitive with different options or packages, etc. This allows for real competition whereas the US has quasi/defacto monopolies for Internet in most markets.<p>I just don't see how the US would get from where they are now, to a future where access to the Internet is a utility and services are the competitive layer.
Comcast is currently promoting a "we promise not to take advantage of the new rules we spent millions lobbying for" tweet: <a href="https://twitter.com/comcast/status/933394263689351175" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/comcast/status/933394263689351175</a>
Don’t give into defeatism or learned helplessness. Fight back by calling representatives and hounding the FCC. This is just the beginning and requires perpetual vigilance.
I still hope this will somehow increase competition. If AT&T, Spectrum, etc start charging more to view youtube, then perhaps this will get the Google fiber train rolling again. Perhaps...
Kinda sucks for near term, but this is going to create economic pressure and consumer demand for a Comcast killer.<p>One possibility is a wireless ISP via satellite or city-wide mesh.
Im strongly in favor of net neutrality. But let's just play devil's advocate here a bit to temper the end-of-the-world view on all this: what if there is good that comes out of this "Internet Freedom Act"... One potential outcome is increased fragmentation, competition and choice via multiple smaller ISPs. Potentially a good thing?<p>Maybe we will see alternative protocols or network technologies that can bypass typical network controls - further strengthening the Internet's resiliency.