Chizzang wrote:JohnStOnge wrote:I think it's a shame ISPs want to do this but when you come right down to it if someone is offering a service they should be able to say that if you want to be able to buy their service you have to agree to certain conditions.
At the same time I don't think this is going to help the Republican Party politically.
John,
You're missing a FUNDAMENTAL point...
Broadband access ceased to be a "Service" when we all paid to build the infrastructure
It is now a public utility as THE PUBLIC paid to build it
Uber is a service
Netflix is a service
Access to water / Access to Electricity / Etc...
and now Broadband
are publicly built and publicly maintained through TAX DOLLARS
Effectively WE the People own them
In my area I was not under the impression that the infrastructure was built with tax dollars. I was under the impression that Eatel built the fiber optic network, laid the fiber optic lines, etc. And it's not a complete monopoly in my area. You have the option of either choosing the Eatel fiber optic system or the Cox cable system (my impression is Cox also built it's infrastructure).
But I do agree that there is a good argument for saying that we have reached the point where it should be considered a utility like water or electricity.