'Super Telco', Net Neutrality Debated in Europe 49

My Nipples Explode With Delight writes [...]
Now that's something you don't see in Forbes.

My Nipples Explode With Delight writes...

And so, in the October of 2006 the great slashdot war of dirtiest-handle-on-the-frontpage was begun.

-Grey [wellingtongrey.net]

Yeah guys username is a bit wierd... but I understand the frustration of trying to pick a username that is not already in use.

This article is such a poorly written mess. I've looked over it twice and I don't think I even know which side the EC is taking on net neutrality. (I know, I know, that's what I get for RTFA...)

because all i can do is make comments about the submitters username

I just wanna see the exploding nipples!

"if tiered services were introduced in the UK and Europe, 'there should be sufficient transparency in the market that consumers can make informed choices'."

That's the key to Network Neutrality. The Internet's Tubes have to be see-through so they know what service they are getting.

...is exactly what the telcos do *not* want. If they actually had to list out all of the under-handed "traffic shaping" (ed. - I realize that there is a necessity for legitimate traffic shaping, but the potential for abuse is the whole point of this discussion) and hidden bandwith-capping that they engage in, then people would know what the whole Net Neutrality* debate is really about.

*I've said it before and I'll say it again, can we please come up with a better sobriquet than "Net Neutrality"?! How the hell am I supposed to get my family and friends interested in "neutrality"?

And almost every comment so far has been about the submitter's username. Maybe i should sign up a new username. "Póg mo thóin"

Let me tell you something about the free market. It's a crock of shit. There's a lot of great laisse faire thinkers out there lauding the idea of zero government interfereance in private affairs, but other forces, such as reality, tend to conflict with their ideals.

Left to its own devices, the market will form a monopoly. With a higher cost of entry, the monopoly will simply form faster. If there was no government oversight, we'd have one worldwide telco/isp/overlord within about 20 years. As it stands we only have less than a dozen tier 1 telcos anyway. Companies so huge they have "Gentlemen's Agreements" instead of monied contracts. What more evidence do you need. It's a cartel!

Now of course, if you have too much regulations, inefficiency, blah, blah, blah. Great, I'll keep it in mind, but at the moment, the internet is rapidly becoming the private demesne of a handful of companies. Companies beholden to no one. I foresee a future where private company regulations superceed any and all rights you or I have to use the internet in the way we want. BellSouth could permanantly blacklist you for irritiating them in your blog.

I say, fuck private companies. The internet, electricity, water, etc, should be public resources, like the air. So if they want to run things, they can do so under a regulator. Oh yeah, and transparently too. You provide a public service, then you've got to do it publically pal. Fuckers paw all our juicy data, but we're not entitled to get their caffeteria menus? Gods danm plutocrats.