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I have to imagine that a big factor here is that these ISPs are regional fiefdoms of the internet.
If you start terminating all the users who are accused of piracy, then you will effectively cut off a huge chunk of your customer base, which is obviously not good for business. But what is worse is that those customers have no place to go because there is realistically only one or two options for high speed internet in a region. (Ignoring Starlink, etc. for the sake of argument)
So Johnny sails the high seas and gets the household internet account shut down and your working from home and need reliable internet access and you find that the cable company actually has a monopoly in your area and there’s no one else to switch to. How long before people start waking up to that fact and the spotlight is on breaking up these ISPs?
Broken up would be cool. I’d much rather see it nationalized though. The idea of a “free market” for major utilities always seemed like such bullshit to me.
There was a push to regulate the internet as a public utility almost a decade ago: https://theconversation.com/will-the-next-u-s-president-close-the-digital-divide-for-americans-without-broadband-access-55477
Burnie had a huge push for the Internet as a Utility like Power and Water. This was riding on the back of the Net Neutrality rules coming under threat, and websites "blacking out" in protest of the proposed rules change, which would potentially allow ISPs to offer tiered access to the internet, where you would need to pay a premium to access sites like Reddit or YouTube.
I distinctly remember seeing offers from places like T-Mobile that eventually made it, so things like Netflix wouldn't count against your data usage if you had a specific plan. I'm not sure that cellular providers are regulated in the same way that ISPs are, since I don't believe cellular providers are considered "Internet Service Providers".
But I feel like it was even earlier than that. There were the internet blackouts of 2012 against things like SOPA and PIPA. Though, those were less about ISPs and more about weakening protections against websites for the content posted by users on their site.
yup all that for them to just do away with net neutrality anyway. Another right stripped away that the democrats can pretend to care about. Bidens bs attempt to restore neutrality was shot down earlier this year.
It would work if not existing under regulatory capture. Competition could force actual innovation. Alas ....
Ah yes, the market just isn't free enough, that's why it fucking sucks
No. The FCC has been purposely muted the past few decades. That's more what I was referring to. More regulation not less
The user was being sarcastic, I think misinterpreting your comment as advocating for deregulation. But instead of regulating the companies driven by profit, why not let essential utilities be under the control of the people, paid for by taxes? That way the management and development of it would be for the benefit of the people and not telecom megacorps.
These companies like Comcast have such influence and connections that they can manipulate legislation, so they can easily warp regulation to benefit them. Why not just cut the greedy companies out? Some places have been able to do it successfully with good results.
I'm all for nationalization of utilities 💯
this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2025
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