The Death of the Internet
I may be writing this epitaph a bit in advance, but mark my words it is coming. Somehow the Feds - those protectors of telecommunications and other forms of competition like the airlines - fell totally asleep at the switch. Actually, this is no big surprise, as they have fallen asleep at virtually everything they do. In this case, however, their lack of attention, or in this case their goal of giving everything to the Bells with no strings attached, is bound to fail miserably.
With the mergers of SBC, ATT and now Bell South, along with the merger of Verizon and MCI, the Internet backbone - those facilities that handle all of the Internet traffic in the US - is nearly totally owned by SBC and Verizon. Rather than act as protectors of the ability of all people in the US (and most of the people in the world) to freely access the Internet, the BIG BELLS are making noises like they need to charge a toll (and make money) on the Internet.
So, the one invention that nearly everyone agrees has been a huge boon to people and business alike is now going to have a toll. Isn't that great. This all stems from monopolists acting like monopolists. Now that the Bells have driven all of their competition out of business, they are taking aim at VoIP in order to preserve their monopoly local services. That's right, I used the word monopoly twice. What percentage of Americans have any choice whatsoever in who provides their local phone service. Maybe 10% or 15%. That meets any definition of a monopoly that I can think of. Didn't the Clinton Administration prosecute Microsoft as a monopoly because they controlled 85% of the desktops in America? Aren't the Europeans doing the same thing to Microsoft today? Who is in charge (or awake) at the FCC. There are much bigger things at stake here than all the attention this agency focused on Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction.
In order to preserve their enormous (and I mean enormous) profits here, the Bells want to charge a toll for any Internet traffic that is not theirs. If you are not willing to pay the toll, your traffic will be carried in "steerage class", and subject to the kind of quality the term "steerage" implies. The Bells should not be allowed to do this, as it will crush any future technology deployment on the Internet (like IP TV, video over the Internet, alternate telecommunications like Voip and Skype, and any other net invention you care to think of that does not come from the Bells themselves). This will remove all competition, and keep your local rates very high (one of the few services you buy that has INCREASED in cost over the last 10 years). I can assure you that at the end of the day these monopolists will not cannibalize their local services to bring you IP telephony at a discount. Nor will they innovate. They will apparently not allow anyone else to do so either.
How can you prevent the senseless death of the Internet? Write your Senators and Legislators urging them to support net neutrality - which is the concept of everyone has the right to access the net free from any encumbrances. Make net neutrality a law - which gives us the basic right not to be held up by these modern day robber barrons. What else can you do? Switch your local service from the phone companies to Vonage or the cable companies. The more revenues the BIG BELLS lose the less of a monopoly they have to protect.
This Peanut views the Internet as the greatest information tool ever invented. We can find out everything about anything whenever we want. I do not want to lose this ability to pad the pockets of these fat cat monopolists. Do you?
With the mergers of SBC, ATT and now Bell South, along with the merger of Verizon and MCI, the Internet backbone - those facilities that handle all of the Internet traffic in the US - is nearly totally owned by SBC and Verizon. Rather than act as protectors of the ability of all people in the US (and most of the people in the world) to freely access the Internet, the BIG BELLS are making noises like they need to charge a toll (and make money) on the Internet.
So, the one invention that nearly everyone agrees has been a huge boon to people and business alike is now going to have a toll. Isn't that great. This all stems from monopolists acting like monopolists. Now that the Bells have driven all of their competition out of business, they are taking aim at VoIP in order to preserve their monopoly local services. That's right, I used the word monopoly twice. What percentage of Americans have any choice whatsoever in who provides their local phone service. Maybe 10% or 15%. That meets any definition of a monopoly that I can think of. Didn't the Clinton Administration prosecute Microsoft as a monopoly because they controlled 85% of the desktops in America? Aren't the Europeans doing the same thing to Microsoft today? Who is in charge (or awake) at the FCC. There are much bigger things at stake here than all the attention this agency focused on Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction.
In order to preserve their enormous (and I mean enormous) profits here, the Bells want to charge a toll for any Internet traffic that is not theirs. If you are not willing to pay the toll, your traffic will be carried in "steerage class", and subject to the kind of quality the term "steerage" implies. The Bells should not be allowed to do this, as it will crush any future technology deployment on the Internet (like IP TV, video over the Internet, alternate telecommunications like Voip and Skype, and any other net invention you care to think of that does not come from the Bells themselves). This will remove all competition, and keep your local rates very high (one of the few services you buy that has INCREASED in cost over the last 10 years). I can assure you that at the end of the day these monopolists will not cannibalize their local services to bring you IP telephony at a discount. Nor will they innovate. They will apparently not allow anyone else to do so either.
How can you prevent the senseless death of the Internet? Write your Senators and Legislators urging them to support net neutrality - which is the concept of everyone has the right to access the net free from any encumbrances. Make net neutrality a law - which gives us the basic right not to be held up by these modern day robber barrons. What else can you do? Switch your local service from the phone companies to Vonage or the cable companies. The more revenues the BIG BELLS lose the less of a monopoly they have to protect.
This Peanut views the Internet as the greatest information tool ever invented. We can find out everything about anything whenever we want. I do not want to lose this ability to pad the pockets of these fat cat monopolists. Do you?
posted by slates at 11:16 AM
2 Comments:
The Telcos have already stated they will do none of the things you mentioned. Where do you get your info? The marketplace will punish these folks if they do these things, so I would relax.
Just wait all you with no industry experience. The Bells own the lines to every home and business in the country (Google Vonage and the rest of the guys own nothing) - other than the cable connections - and own most of the internet backbone. The cable guys own no internet backbone. When the existing free peering arrangements (which allow ISPs to traverse multiple networks free of charge) expire, Verizon and ATT will peer free, and everyone else will pay. Why do you think there are a couple of bills trying to address this in Congress.
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