'Net Neutrality is a Pipe Dream . . . (but that's not a bad thing)
Bob Frankston has been knocking around in the high tech world for over 30 years and he recently wrote a convoluted 'Net Neutrality article on his blog. The writing style is obscure to the point of walling off some of the main points in his story (allegory? metaphor? analogy? satire?) behind convoluted language that is difficult to follow. While we all need to read more I think, and too much brevity really is a sin, the author still took far too long to make his point poorly.
I'm grieving. It's apparent that some Americans seem a bit confused. It appears to be a business fact that competition and capitalism go hand in hand and I don't think even a three year old would argue the point. So when did we stir such a brazen sense of entitlement into the issue of internet access? We place abusively harsh pricing pressure on service providers by demanding lots of choice and (big) business responds. Sooner or later though, business has to protect itself by granularizing its services in order to find the profit margins which have disappeared because of the all the aforementioned competition. Fairness in the midst of egregiously aggressive competition is a pipe dream. It doesn't happen in sport, in interpersonal relationships, or in business.
Laud capitalism. Laud competition. But downsides exist which hurt consumers. 'Net neutrality will die in Congress, repeatedly, because the Constitution and all the Amendments work as designed to protect capitalism, private competition, and rights. The dream of 'Net neutrality is not a right, but rather a proposition for which someone has to make a sound business case. That hasn't happened yet, and the prospect remains highly unlikely.
The U.S. and Canada have already fallen behind Europe and Japan insofar as the introduction of new, faster, broadly accessible 'Net and wireless services are concerned. Coverage and roaming remain big, consumer headaches. So my view is that until such time as a change occurs in the fundamental structure on which U.S. business and government rests, 'Net neutrality may be a fiction which will never come to pass.
The internet is and always has been a conglomeration of business entities. So when does anyone think such entities in the U.S. will suddenly adopt the democratically socialist attitudes and business practices needed to ensure neutrality becomes one of the pillars of growth? Fairness to consumers in the midst of the cutthroat competition demanded by consumers? Dream on. I doubt it will happen anytime soon.
I'm grieving. It's apparent that some Americans seem a bit confused. It appears to be a business fact that competition and capitalism go hand in hand and I don't think even a three year old would argue the point. So when did we stir such a brazen sense of entitlement into the issue of internet access? We place abusively harsh pricing pressure on service providers by demanding lots of choice and (big) business responds. Sooner or later though, business has to protect itself by granularizing its services in order to find the profit margins which have disappeared because of the all the aforementioned competition. Fairness in the midst of egregiously aggressive competition is a pipe dream. It doesn't happen in sport, in interpersonal relationships, or in business.
Laud capitalism. Laud competition. But downsides exist which hurt consumers. 'Net neutrality will die in Congress, repeatedly, because the Constitution and all the Amendments work as designed to protect capitalism, private competition, and rights. The dream of 'Net neutrality is not a right, but rather a proposition for which someone has to make a sound business case. That hasn't happened yet, and the prospect remains highly unlikely.
The U.S. and Canada have already fallen behind Europe and Japan insofar as the introduction of new, faster, broadly accessible 'Net and wireless services are concerned. Coverage and roaming remain big, consumer headaches. So my view is that until such time as a change occurs in the fundamental structure on which U.S. business and government rests, 'Net neutrality may be a fiction which will never come to pass.
The internet is and always has been a conglomeration of business entities. So when does anyone think such entities in the U.S. will suddenly adopt the democratically socialist attitudes and business practices needed to ensure neutrality becomes one of the pillars of growth? Fairness to consumers in the midst of the cutthroat competition demanded by consumers? Dream on. I doubt it will happen anytime soon.
posted by Howard Carson, Managing Editor @ 9:40 PM
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