Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Asshole of the Week: TelCo Twits

In yet another instance of the old guard digging their heels in to prevent all form of broadly based progress by any means neccesary, telecom companies want to charge both ends of the connection:
For the first time, the companies that own the equipment that delivers the Internet to your office, cubicle, den and dorm room could, for a price, give one company priority on their networks over another.
Per usual, we have the forces for progress
For more than a year, public interest groups, including the Consumer Federation and Consumers Union, have been lobbying Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to write the concept called "network neutrality" into law and regulation. Google and Yahoo have joined their lobbying efforts.
arrayed against the old guard of an industry that has the best goddamn buggy whip you ever saw, and wants to make sure to extract every last rent from it:
companies like AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth are lobbying just as hard, saying that they need to find new ways to pay for the expense of building faster, better communication networks.
O.K., infrastructure is expensive. But, wait, they already have paying customers to whom they sell internet service. And, cleverly, they can price discriminate on the basis of bandwidth. So what's the problem?
because these new networks will compete with those belonging to Comcast, Time Warner and other cable companies -- which currently have about 55 percent of the residential broadband market -- this will eventually bring down the price of your high-speed Internet service and television access.
It's the competition, stupid. They don't like that. Because then you actually have to spend money to maintain networks, answer customer complaints, and draw business. This money has a much more natural resting place - executive compensation. However, having previosly won the de-regulation fight, they can't turn around and demand rate protection. Undettered, they decide that this means burning the candle at the other end:
The telecommunications companies' proposals have the potential, within just a few years, to alter the flow of commerce and information -- and your personal experience -- on the Internet. For the first time, the companies that own the equipment that delivers the Internet to your office, cubicle, den and dorm room could, for a price, give one company priority on their networks over another.
(Emphasis mine.) Remembering that web-hosting already costs money, this is the equivalent of a local government not just charging property tax on your place of business, but demanding a cut of sales to customers who use to parking meters in front of your store, or perhaps even the road to get there. On top of the money they collect from said meters. Of course, above mentioned executives like private planes and hiring the Black Eyed Peas for their kids Bar Mitvah/Sweet 16's, so
AT&T Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr. complained that Internet content providers were getting a free ride: "They don't have any fiber out there. They don't have any wires. . . . They use my lines for free -- and that's bull," he said. "For a Google or a Yahoo or a Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes for free is nuts!''
Well, as I mentioned, Google or whomever is already paying or has payed for the content on their end of the connection. And they are already charging you or I to access that content. To use another analogy, this is the mailman refusing to hand over your paycheck until you make him a silent partner.

Lest you think I'm making too much of this:
But the blog storm over Whitacre's comments had hardly died down when an executive with BellSouth was quoted saying that the company would consider charging Apple five or 10 cents extra each time a customer downloaded a song using iTunes.
Google, which is 2 for 3 this week after this story, gets this one right
Google and others say that the prospect of telephone companies imposing new fees on innovative and successful ventures is exactly the kind of thing that deters online commerce. "If carriers are able to control what consumers do on the Internet, that threatens the model of Internet communications that has been wildly successful," said Alan Davidson, Washington policy counsel for Google.
Google and others say that the prospect of telephone companies imposing new fees on innovative and successful ventures is exactly the kind of thing that deters online commerce. "If carriers are able to control what consumers do on the Internet, that threatens the model of Internet communications that has been wildly successful," said Alan Davidson, Washington policy counsel for Google.

A friend of WAP, who works in the telco industry, gets the final word:

"You are NOT wrong [Pooh: Not that it's for me to decide when I'm not wrong] - it is a VERY VERY VERY bad thing. And no matter how much the telcos try to justify it, it's completely unethical . . . And the telcos whining 'they're getting a free ride' well - that's just bullshit."

11 comments:

Icepick said...

Damnit, I rip you on your own blog, and I'm STILL not Asshole of the Week. Who do I have to kill?!

bill said...

Good selection.

2 tangential notes:

A. UK citizens pay a yearly TV tax: A colour television licence is £116 a year (around $192 US) and a black and white TV licence costs £38.50 a year (around $64 US).

B. Neal Stephenson's Mother Earth Mother Board. An exploration into the world of global telecommunications and the tenuous connections countries and people have to information access. Cutting deep sea cables is an act of war. In the near future, I think we're at least as likely to see armed conflict break out over data access as border disputes.

reader_iam said...

Waders and shovels time, as the crap flies.

Excellent choice, Pooh. Not only are you not wrong, you're right!

Pooh said...

Pick, I've already admitted I deserved some of the rip. But keep talking trash about Family Guy, and you might worm your way to the top.

Icepick said...

I don't have to rip on Family Guy. Someone else has already explained why Family Guy sucks so much.

Icepick said...

And don't miss the comments on Jaime's post. It will say zero comments at the bottom, but that's because he uses HaloScan for comments. There are a LOT of comments. The rips are the best. Here's a sample:

From Jimmy: Stop being mad because it seems to me you are jewish and they pick on jews alot so get over that everyone will hate you until the end of time simple as that!

From Stewie Griffin: and b4 yu try and make an attempted 'clever' remark (which i doubt very much cuz i imagine yur jus a retard wiv yur helper writin this for yu) at my comment dont bother im dont giv a fuck wot yu hav 2 say yu piece of shit!

Somehow I doubt the real Stewie would have these kinds of problems with spelling and grammar. That is a short excerpt of a very long comment. I highly recommend it!

From Nameless: And by the way, South Park did NOT "talkle" any social issues, all they did was push their leftist views on whoever watched the show.

Matt and Trey are leftists? Who knew! Nameless is very perceptive. Clearly s/he knows high quality entertainment when s/he sees it.

From Family Guy Rules: Family guy is the best show ever you over analyze things way tooooo much just watch and laff...... but its ok u homosexuals have been like this ever since you came over here from france.STEWIE FOR GOVERNOR

From Loismustdie: go fuck yourself
...
and all the other morons who agreed with him can burn in the fiery depths of hell


From you sucker: You can die and stopping surviving and no one will give a shit. But family guy is brought back by all the fans with love of life and humor like me.

And on and on it goes. Not a single intelligent comment from the pro-Family Guy comments, but lots of rude, racist, homophobic invective, which is exactly what Family Guy caters to.

Am I worming my way back to the top?

bill said...

May I share the nomination?

Icepick found the best takedown of Family Guy; here's another good one

And the South Park guys pile on:


http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid=6&csid1=3880
What's the meanest thing ever said to you before, during or after a gig?
Matt Stone: When people say to me, “God, you guys have one of the best shows on television. You and Family Guy.” That f*cking hurts so bad.

Icepick said...

Bill, I had forgotten that Matt Stone quote! Thanks for the reminder.

Icepick said...

Bill, it looks like the enemy has fled the battlefield. We win on a DQ!

Pooh said...

Am I supposed to be fighting back? Or are you really trying to antagonize your way to a win next week?

Of course, I'd have to have something link to to so name you. Or I could just make bad "Basic Instinct" and Trotsky jokes at your expense.

Icepick said...

Trotsky was an ice-AX! Ice-AX I say!