Verizon's Response to the FCC Decision

"Branden J -Reading the Manual" (intakelake)
02/26/2015 at 22:18 • Filed to: Net neutralopnik

Their response is almost comical. They sound like a 3 year old that didn't get their way that's now throwing a temper tantrum. And they wrote it all in Morse code, just to be extra juvenile. Here's the link if you'd like to read it yourself: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (25)

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 22:22

Hurr Durr, we can't charge people more for less.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 22:24

They're not wrong, though. The regulations are a bunch of nonsense. You do realise the FCC doesn't run the internet, right?

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 22:29

Yes, but ISPs shouldn't be able to either, and even though I'm sure there's part of the new rules that aren't going to work, or may be an inconvenience, but that sure is better than giving companies whose purpose is to make as much money as possible have free reign over access to our Internet.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 22:33

The hell is up with that font?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 22:34

The FCC IS allowed to regulate the companies that provide you your internet access, which is precisely what they have voted to do.

Branden J -Reading the Manual > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
02/26/2015 at 22:38

I think they wanted to make it look like it was done on a typewriter. I'm surprised they didn't make it look like a telegraph too.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 22:41

"giving companies whose purpose is to make as much money as possible have free reign over access to our Internet."

That's not how it works either, though.

That said, the whole US broadband market is screwed the hell up, but this FCC regulation is very much a case of 'something must be done, this is something, let's do this' instead of any kind of considered fix.

davedave1111 > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
02/26/2015 at 22:42

I never said they're not allowed to. I pointed out that they don't run the internet. Funny how this is only an issue in the US, isn't it?

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 22:45

Yeah, our Internet is awful. I don't know at what point we started going the way we are, but this is the closest thing to a fix we're going to see out of the US Government so I'm going to mark it down as a win. For now at least.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 22:53

Telegraph would have looked better and got the point across easier.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 23:02

Sounds more like grounds for revolution than celebration, to me, even if it's as close to a fix as you think. I rather tend to the view that it's not even close to a fix, and might actually make the problem worse, so doubly so.

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 23:24

And if it does make it worse that might be just the call to arms we need, only time will tell at this point, I'm not even 18 yet, it's beyond my power.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 23:24

You have the power. SWAT the White House.

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 23:27

At this point I feel like my best option is going to a different country. But I don't have the money for that, yet.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/26/2015 at 23:35

You don't need much money at your age. Just get a plane ticket, you'll be OK :)

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/26/2015 at 23:42

I'm not quite inconvenienced enough to give up my worldly possesions and move elsewhere just yet. Yet being the important word in that.

davedave1111 > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/27/2015 at 00:03

You shouldn't do it because the US is so bad, because really, it's not. You should do it anyway.

Branden J -Reading the Manual > davedave1111
02/27/2015 at 00:11

I plan on traveling, just not quite yet, I've got a list though of places I'm going as soon as I get the chance

DipodomysDeserti > davedave1111
02/27/2015 at 00:30

The US is the Walmart of the world. It's only good because it's cheap.

davedave1111 > DipodomysDeserti
02/27/2015 at 00:34

Not really. Nowhere's perfect, but the US has some of the best places on the planet to live. Probably some of the worst too, what with being a really big country, but your country is rich enough that when things are good, they're very good. Don't knock it, most of the world is worse-off than almost all of the US.

samssun > Branden J -Reading the Manual
02/27/2015 at 04:18

Under 18 explains it. Grab your parents' electric, gas, landline and cell phone bills and check out all the taxes, fees, and license charges. That's what imposing 1930s utility regs brought.

My cell phone bill is 30% taxes, and I have 10 add ons to my electric bill more than doubling my actual use. Franchise tax, meter tax, universal service fee still in existence 70+ years after its goals were achieved. When government grabs power over something, it doesn't let go.

The FCC control freaks say they aren't looking to implement price or content controls, but of course maintain the power to. How much would you invest in innovation with that hanging over your business? And do you really want Hillary and the NSA "solving" the "problem" of too much uncontrolled info?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > davedave1111
02/27/2015 at 08:13

No, the FCC does not run the internet. Not sure how that is even relevant though.

That's like saying the NCAA doesn't run NASCAR.

This is a start. The telcos have proved they cannot be trusted so they MUST be regulated more. Is it perfect? No. But it is better than before.

Ideally, we wouldn't need this at all because EVERYONE in the US could choose from 4 or more companies to get their 25MBps or higher connection. Since as it currently stands more than half the US has ONE choice, Comcrap, for a connection that fast the people have spoken loudly we are tired of cable company bullshit.

We need local-loop unbundling so that company can use that infrastructure to connect to your house at a fair rate.

We need to break up content delivery and creation. Comcast should not be able to own NBC.

We need to break up the regional monopolies that the cable companies have.

We can't have any of this without stronger regulations from THE agency created to regulate this area of commerce.

davedave1111 > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
02/28/2015 at 04:26

"No, the FCC does not run the internet. Not sure how that is even relevant though."

Because it shows it's not actually a problem with the internet at all. 'Net neutrality' is complete nonsense. It's a problem with your ISPs and how they are regulated.

" The telcos have proved they cannot be trusted so they MUST be regulated more."

There's no logical link between the two. All you've shown is that current regulation is not working. Whether more, less, or different regulation is required is another question entirely.

"Ideally, we wouldn't need this at all because EVERYONE in the US could choose from 4 or more companies to get their 25MBps or higher connection. Since as it currently stands more than half the US has ONE choice"

Quite. The US market is well known to be massively over-regulated in a way which causes a total lack of competition. More regulation doesn't solve that problem. Opening up the market to allow new entrants will. Even you agree that competition is the key, so I can't imagine why you support a system which hands out monopoly licenses for regions.

"We need to break up the regional monopolies that the cable companies have."

Well, exactly. But those monopolies are _mandatory_ under your system of regulation. Don't you think that might be the place to start, rather than a set of regulations which hand censorship power over the internet (in the US) to the FCC and yet don't fix the problem people are complaining about?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > davedave1111
02/28/2015 at 08:09

These new regulations DO NOT give the FCC the power to dictate what is on the internet.

The FCC wants to ensure that the companies that provide us our access cannot possibly do so, and this is the best way to start.

No, it's not perfect. But it is something. And without the power to enforce good behavior, the FCC won't have the power to break up regional monopolies and create a more competitive market.

DipodomysDeserti > davedave1111
02/28/2015 at 23:33

"Some of the best places on the planet to live". The world is a very big place, and that's a completely arbitrary and highly subjective statement.