back to article 'Two-speed internet' storm turns FCC.gov into zero-speed website

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has extended the deadline for public comment on its net neutrality proposals – after a flood of traffic borked the agency's website yet again. At the heart of the proposals are rules that could allow huge corporations to pay for prioritized internet traffic. While on the one hand …

  1. John Robson Silver badge

    When I was involved....

    in building a CDN we had devices to go into ISP networks which would improve service for their customers without excessive cost in term of u8pstream bandwidth for the ISP.

    Surely that is the way for disney/bbc/sky to "prioritise" their traffic?

    1. ben edwards

      Re: When I was involved....

      Netflix has caching servers for ISPs to place inside their network to reduce bandwidth cost. I believe they even pay for it. The big players are choosing to not take advantage of this, as it would likely demonstrate their infrastructure isn't as sound as it should be.

      1. Fluffy Bunny
        Devil

        Re: When I was involved....

        "...their infrastructure isn't as sound as it should be." - no, that isn't the problem. The problem is that the ISP's CEO has a performance agreement that requires him to generate 10% more revenue. What does he do? Obviously he cuts the slow lane by 10%, which will force more content providers to pay for fast lane access.

        We don't call it shonky. It's just the way American companies do business.

        1. Dan Paul

          Re: When I was involved....

          Fluffy,....It's the way ALL companies do business; those that want to be profitable that is.

          1. phil dude
            FAIL

            Re: When I was involved....

            this may be a coincidence but my ISP sent an email last week saying "we are charging you $5 more starting next month". I called and gave a piece of my mind, and they relented. But perhaps this is a systematic effort to move the argument into financial territory and make the politics murky(ier)...

            Google Fibre cannot come fast enough....

            P.

  2. Schultz

    Comments can be emailed [... and will] be considered

    ... if they agree with the forgone conclusion.

    FTFY. Or am I cynical?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Comments can be emailed [... and will] be considered

      The FCC has already announced what they are going to do. These comments will be ignored totally. All of the petitions (online and offline) sent to Washington DC are ignored.

  3. 2460 Something

    But the million(ish) comments will be treated as unwarranted spam. The only allowed comments will be from white-listed ip ranges within a few select trust-worth companies... ...

  4. Haku
  5. Ole Juul

    No money?

    Just listen to the low bandwidth morse code broadcast.

  6. Cipher

    I'm surprised...

    ...they haven't used the comments bottleneck to advance the two tier system.

    "We could have seen all the comments by now, IF we had the proposed sytem in place"

    FCC: The Internet isn't perfect, but is working just fine as is. The very last thing we need is political hacks fiddling with the controls. Back Up and Back Off...

    1. MacGyver

      Re: I'm surprised...

      Not correct, in this case if you like the internet the way it is now, you must let the FCC regulate it.

      The problem is that the FCC has always regulated it, and only recently the ISPs have sued to not be regulated. They say that all this time, the FCC was wrong to be regulating them, and that because they shouldn't be regulating them now, that they can do what ever they want, hence, the throttling of certain types of content (bittorrent, Netflix, really anything that they don't like)

      We all want them regulated as a type 2 Telecommunications provider, so that we can CONTINUE to have the internet be free. If not, only large corps will have fast speeds, well, those and the ultra rich.

      They have a HUGE mis-information campaign going to confuse this issue, this is way you are thinking the way you are. Unless, you like being at the mercy of a company's bottom line, rather than everyone being treated fairly.

  7. Levente Szileszky

    Err, sorry, correction: "FCC chairman and ex-cable top lobbyist and ex-telco top lobbyist"...

    ...Tom Wheeler, this paid Trojan Horse, put into this position by Obama, to satisfy his paymasters...

    (He is the former President of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) and former CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), the two most disgusting industry lobby groups when it comes to anything in telecommunication, making Tom Wheeler the probably the worst possible paid *&^%$ for this position at the main oversight & regulatory body of the industry.).

    ...carry on, please.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like