Blown To Bits

The FCC Can’t Regulate the Internet

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 by Harry Lewis
In buy bentyl from canada autosomal recessive inheritance, a child needs two copies of a viagra online stores gene variant — one from each parent — to develop cheapest alesse (ovral l) a condition. People with restless leg syndrome experience uncomfortable sensations buy viagra online australia in the legs, such as aching, throbbing, and the urge purchase tizanidine online to move these limbs. A person may also experience extreme buy zyprexa online irritability, a decrease in the need for sleep, fast thoughts, buy cheap spiriva and an inflated sense of self. Many organizations and healthcare buy cheap lasix professionals are able to help people manage and treat BDD kenalog for order and body image disorders. If the cause of myocarditis is viagra tablets an infection, other symptoms may include flu-like symptoms, such as quinine online stores fever or general malaise. Orencia may be given by you buy cipro internet or a caregiver at home, or by a healthcare professional in.

When the FCC landed on Comcast for slowing Bittorrent traffic to a crawl–in essence, discouraging people from watching Internet movies, and steering them to their Comcast Cable TV channels instead–Comcast took the FCC to court. Comcast protested on three grounds, but the basic ground was that the FCC had no authority to tell Comcast to do anything with its Internet service. A panel of three judges has unanimously ruled that Comcast is correct (and therefore didn’t bother with Comcast’s arguments #2 and #3). Public Knowledge has a good explanation of the decision and where it leaves us.

I am disappointed, but I can’t say I am surprised. Congress did not anticipate the Internet when it made telephone regulations, just at it didn’t anticipate the telephone or the radio when it made telegraph regulations. So if there is going to be net neutrality, it appears Congress will have to act. That was on Obama’s campaign agenda, but regulation of anything is not an easy sell in Washington.

Yet it is clear that monopolies are a bad idea, and the business community, except for Verizon, Comcast, and a few other biggies, should support the free flow of bits over the Internet pipes. My previous post is remarkably relevant on this point. Listen to Gardiner Hubbard’s description from 125 years ago of the fate of one small business bullied by the Western Union monopoly:

A few years ago a man started a news bureau in Cincinnati. A correspondent in New-York filed the market reports each morning and the Cincinnati gentleman sold the information to customers. The Western Union asked him to sell out to them and he refused; thereupon his messages were taken away from the “through” wire and sent by a “way” wire. The difference in time was an hour, and the man was ruined. (New York Times, February 8, 1883)

As far as I can see, there is no reason why Comcast couldn’t do exactly the same thing tomorrow. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Comments are closed.