FCC chair: ISPs should be able to charge Netflix for Internet fast lane

Tom Wheeler became the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on November 4, 2013. Tom Wheeler, was appointed the position by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the Untied States Senate. Additional Reading

Newly anointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said this week that it would be OK for Internet service providers to charge Netflix and other companies for a faster lane to consumers.
ArsTechnica

What I find interesting about this is President Obama is Shutting the Revolving Door

President Obama has taken historic steps to close the "revolving door" that carries special interest influence in and out of the government by prohibiting former lobbyists from working on issues on which they lobbied or in agencies they previously lobbied and barring them altogether from holding future positions on advisory boards and commissions.

Yet, Tom Wheeler was a former telecom lobbyist... So what are the implications Tom Wheeler is proposing?

The implications are essentially bottomless, too. Consider the future this allows: Focus on the Family pays Comcast to load pro-life websites faster than Planned Parenthood. The Church of Scientology pays Time Warner Cable to load their websites faster than cult counseling websites. AT&T makes domains pay a fee to open the door to search engine indexing robots. These are all hypotheticals, but they're all within the realm of possibility if network neutrality vanishes .

reply to post by ATSmediaPRO


Ahhhhh HELLO BIG BROTHER?????? *echo* I already pay my ISP for a faster data stream! I haven't heard them bitching either! They seem to enjoy making extra money off of me so that I enjoy what I am already paying for.......

GO AWAY government!!!! Solve the problems we ALREADY HAVE AND QUIT CREATING MORE......

/Rant over, I will crawl back to my happy corner.....

EDIT: Why doesn't he mention Amazon??? They have a streaming video service as well don't they???

Evidently Netflix isn't kicking out enough political contributions for this administration? "They MUST be taught a lesson!"?

This sounds eerily like a re-branded internet 2. I guess all of the net neutrality proponents concerns fell on deaf ears. I have been waiting on this to rear its ugly head again. I guess they just had to find the right man for the job and to find a way around "the people".

This is interesting because people love NetFlix so this is a way to garner support for this horrible idea. It sounds like a good thing but these companies can afford the fee meanwhile smaller sites will be relegated to a failing internet because no one wants slow internet and these sites will be shunned except by the most ardent supporters.

reply to post by ATSmediaPRO


Would not be surprised if MR. Chairman or an associate will either go work back with telecom industry like Colin Powells son did or he is already invested.

After Powells FCC stunt he now works for the telecom lobbying industry and is saying that its in the best interest of the consumers to have a monthly DATA CAP pushed on them by their ISP.

Its really unfortunate that there are far more brainwashed uncaring voters than the informed ones, hence they will eventually succeed. People still think their gov't works for them and not the big pocket lobbying indu$try

interupt42

After Powells FCC stunt he now works for the telecom lobbying industry and is saying that its in the best interest of the consumers to have a monthly DATA CAP pushed on them by their ISP.

Don't worry ,,,everyones "Data Cap" won't apply too the 'Mainstream sites" such as Twitter,FaceBook,Google or any of the other "Media Gaints" ,,you will be able to go too their websites & they will "pay" so it isn't held against your "Data Cap"...thereby funneling everyone too their websites too get the latest "GroupThink"

the "Data Cap" will mostly only apply to those nasty "Alternative & ThoughtCrime websites"

reply to post by seeker1963


He doesn't mention Amazon Prime probably it's really not that significant amongst Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD), yet.

Variety has some numbers and estimates from last year.

reply to post by Blowback


You betcha they will.

The internet is a series of tubes! And if one tube is being taken up, then people should pay for that tube…

God damned commies everywhere.

boncho
The internet is a series of tubes! And if one tube is being taken up, then people should pay for that tube…

Alot of us are already paying for tube use....alot these "tubes" were put in place with government grants " i.e-corporate welfare"-"i.e commie welfare"-"i.e government picking winners & losers" to private companies ,,which means you are paying twice ,,, once for constructing tubes ,,then again for the privilege too use tubes.... this just scam to squeeze out more money & get more control of which websites are vetted..

Blowback

interupt42

After Powells FCC stunt he now works for the telecom lobbying industry and is saying that its in the best interest of the consumers to have a monthly DATA CAP pushed on them by their ISP.

Don't worry ,,,everyones "Data Cap" won't apply too the 'Mainstream sites" such as Twitter,FaceBook,Google or any of the other "Media Gaints" ,,you will be able to go too their websites & they will "pay" so it isn't held against your "Data Cap"...thereby funneling everyone too their websites too get the latest "GroupThink"

the "Data Cap" will mostly only apply to those nasty "Alternative & ThoughtCrime websites"

edit on 5-12-2013 by Blowback because: (no reason given)

A data cap on your internet connection is just that, a limit on how many gigabytes' worth of data you can upload or download in a billing period. Exceed that limit, & you're billed an exorbitant fee for each gig used over the limit. It's got nothing to do with anything else, only with how much bancwidth you're burning on your end. It matters not what sites you use.

IMO, if there's any conspiracy involved in data usage caps, it's that the ISP's have decided it's time to make a larger profit on those who are addicted to online gaming, or who are uploading and downloading many large files per month, for example, traders of pirated movies, games, warez, etc.

you'd be surprized how many gigabytes' worth of data the average person uses,,,a few windows Update here ,,a few youtube videos there,,,a couple of antivirus updates...lol ,,,TPTB are using these bandwith hogs as an excuse & the limits wont be set near high enough,,,if you think it wont eventlly effect you & ya not going end up paying extra ,,then you haven't been watching the Obamacare boondoogle & are living under a rock

Blowback
you'd be surprized how many gigabytes' worth of data the average person uses,,,a few windows Update here ,,a few youtube videos there,,,a couple of antivirus updates...lol ,,,TPTB are using these bandwith hogs as an excuse & the limits wont be set near high enough,,,if you think it wont eventlly effect you & ya not going end up paying extra ,,then you haven't been watching the Obamacare boondoogle & are living under a rock

I've had a bandwidth limit on my connection for most of this year: 150 GB transfer per month. I do all the things you mention, plus watch TV & movies courtesy of Netflix & Hulu, run a website, upload & download video files, & more.
To date, I haven't exceeded the limit once yet. Having worked for a major ISP for 9 years, I believe I'm entitled to claim that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to bandwidth caps.

You, on the other hand, appear to be making this up as you go along.

reply to post by BuzzCory


I have a 500mb daily cap with an unlimited grace period from 2am to 6am because I am on satellite. Of course they say there are all of these limitations to satellite but that some how goes out the door when they try to sell you reset tokens at $5 bucks a pop. If I go over said limit I am reduced to a crawl something like 28.8 . This is just one example and since this is satellite they have their customers bent over a barrel as there are often no other alternatives. Its just a racket to squeeze more out of people. I wouldn't be surprised if the other telecoms looked at the Sat model and decided to give it ago.

BuzzCory

I worked for a major ISP for 9 years

ya must know how work the system then & get the insider deal,,,,I doubt the average person will get such a good deal....your not doing yourself any favors by claiming to be affiliated with the cable guy ,,I mean really ,when was the last time a cable guy showed up when he said he was going too.?

Blowback

boncho
The internet is a series of tubes! And if one tube is being taken up, then people should pay for that tube…

Alot of us are already paying for tube use....alot these "tubes" were put in place with government grants " i.e-corporate welfare"-"i.e commie welfare"-"i.e government picking winners & losers" to private companies ,,which means you are paying twice ,,, once for constructing tubes ,,then again for the privilege too use tubes.... this just scam to squeeze out more money & get more control of which websites are vetted..


You finally got it, Control, not about money but control.

The Bot

NihilistSanta
reply to post by BuzzCory

 

I have a 500mb daily cap with an unlimited grace period from 2am to 6am because I am on satellite. Of course they say there are all of these limitations to satellite but that some how goes out the door when they try to sell you reset tokens at $5 bucks a pop. If I go over said limit I am reduced to a crawl something like 28.8 . This is just one example and since this is satellite they have their customers bent over a barrel as there are often no other alternatives. Its just a racket to squeeze more out of people. I wouldn't be surprised if the other telecoms looked at the Sat model and decided to give it ago.

You're not alone in that; there are still many areas in the US that can't get anything but satellite, as the other ISP's don't see it worth the time & $$ to build broadband infrastructure if there will be a relatively small customer base. That's the only reason your service provider feels confident enough to had you a deal like that. They're the only game in town. That having been said, I'm not sure how your ISP's package relates to what I posted above.

Blowback

BuzzCory

I worked for a major ISP for 9 years

ya must know how work the system then & get the insider deal,,,,I doubt the average person will get such a good deal....your not doing yourself any favors by claiming to be affiliated with the cable guy ,,I mean really ,when was the last time a cable guy showed up when he said he was going too.?

Nope, no insider deal, just a good DSL circuit on a good phone line. My former employer was too tight to give any deals to employees since canceling the employee discounts back around 2001. Anyway, this whole issue is about profit$, not mass control, as your CT is suggesting.

Somehow, I don't see this discussion going much further in any productive direction. I'm done, feel free to have the last word if you want.

reply to post by BuzzCory


Yes sorry in my haste I forgot to relay my initial point regarding your post. I was replying to what you had stated about sufficient internet with a cap. Not all caps are 150gb and the internet is so content heavy that with my lowly 500mb daily plan ( I could go up to 1g but not worth it) it is nearly impossible to not go over cap from casual use. Some of these companies have firmware issues that cause people to go over cap like Verizon HomeFusion.

I use Hughesnet currently and they have tried all types of shady things to get me to upgrade to their newest plan Gen4 but its a scam. You have less download allowance but faster speed which = hitting cap sooner which = more tokens bought. The cable companies will pick up on this soon and while you may enjoy 150gb limit now that may not always be the case. This is just a the newest incarnation of artificial scarcity.

reply to post by NihilistSanta


Thanks for the clarification. I see your point, but again, I think the plan you're on is not one that would be pushed by an ISP who wasn't the only source of broadband internet in a given area. To an extent, they all rely on the fact that an internet connection has almost become a necessity for most people, & that in addition, most of us are addicted to its use. If a customer lives in an area that offers a choice between DSL, cable, satellite, or wireless, an ISP will tend not to get too outrageous in gouging that customer, for fear he/she will jump ship. I don't think my ISP will put the squeeze on, but only because I don't believe they could rationalize it.

I still think it's possible that if another ISP were to begin offering a better deal in your area, your current one would suddenly have a "breakthrough" that would allow for more performance for your account. Here's hoping Santa will bring your area a competing satellite company or two.

a reply to: ATSmediaPRO

I will never buy video from amazon again. I bought about 20 movies from them that I can't watch because Amazon updated their security AFTER I had bought them.

I don't like buying things that the seller still owns.

Pavlovian anti-property meme.

Back to the thread, if anyone builds additional infrastructure in the internet then they should get the benefit of that hardware.

Any rule that affects the whole internet should happen by evolution-- not by bureaucrats, who are all ignorant and dogmatic or just plain criminal.

Without data caps, the big internet players will always have incentive to build more infrastructure.

With data caps, the internet monopoly is nearly in place.

All monopolies are created and maintained by laws and regulations.