Sinister lobby group (AT&T, Verizon among membership) sues FCC to kill net neut A powerful US telco lobby group, of which AT&T and Verizon are prominent members, has refiled its lawsuit against the FCC's net neutrality rules. The rules, which will bring internet access providers under stricter regulation, were published in the Federal Register early on Monday – the final step in making them legally …
This post has been deleted by its author
"Although the net neutrality rules have been hailed by many as a victory for the ordinary internet user, in reality it is more of a win for the new status quo of Google and Netflix over the previous giants of telco policy: AT&T, Verizon and the telco and cable companies' industry bodies"
Telcos (at least here in the US) already have far too much power behind them that they use to squeeze every cent that they can out of consumers while providing the least value possible. It is basic capitalism and no surprise that they have all joined forces to NOT compete against each other, thereby locking broad regions into one or two "choices" for providers while blocking any newcomers and claiming to not be a monopoly (although with the non-compete agreements in place they functionally are). As they own the physical assets, there really is no other choice. Google and Netflix on the other hand, have multiple competitors at your finger tips at any time. Telcos have the physical ability to strangle your (my) choice. I'm all for handing this victory to the Tech Companies as I believe it is very much in the interest of the consumer (vs. the other option).
While it's obvious the US telcos like the movie industry are doing everything they can to keep their old monopoly and cash cows in place against the tech giants...
Google is an interesting one, especially if they keep rolling fibre provision out. Which side do you think they will be on once it becomes a major fiber provider? Right now it's in their interest to fight the Telco, but once they join the Telco ranks and can see a money grab from charging tiers to non-google content... Who's side will they be on then?
" It is basic capitalism and no surprise that they have all joined forces to NOT compete against each other"
It's basic capitalism (and past history) for the telcos to amalgamate - which is how AT&T came into dominate in the first place - refuse to interconnect with competitors, wait till they go out of business and swoop in on them at fire-sale prices
This time around they're supposedly different companies but if you lift the curtain and look at the web of cross-ownerships and holding companies, it's hard to escape the conclusion that the AT&T borg has reassembled itself already and is just maintaining a facade to try and "fool" anti-trust regulations.
... the Open Internet Order is a direct result of the ruling in the Verizon suit where the Judge told the FCC that they done it wrong in that version and the new rules in version 2.0 are the prescribed method. If the telcos think they're going to roll over the FCC this time around... they should have another think.
Chairman Wheeler gave the telcos an out. Stop calling their service broadband, which in most cases they aren't under the new minimums required to be called such, and they're protected from the rest of the order. Now that false advertising is actionable on the FTC side of the house, which could/should prove interesting.
Guess we'll have to see who's left without a chair when the music stops.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
