http://statenews.com Telecommunications giant Comcast Corp. got itself into trouble at a Feb. 25 Federal Communications Commission hearing. It became apparent the corporation had hired people off of the street to fill seats in the hearing, ostensibly to “hold places in line” for its employees. en-us Foundry4 Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:02:35 -0500 Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:17:46 -0400 webmaster@statenews.com http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14265/view Shouldn’t the title read “Net neutrality preserves Web freedom?” Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:50:43 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14265/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14307/view Tell me again — Why would anyone want to invest a dime in upgrading their network’s performance, if there is little incentive to do so? That is, to prioritize some digital-traffic — like its own? Or — OMG! — let its customers decide which traffic to prioritize? To give customers control and choices? Dumb. Just dumb. Life to its lowest common denominator. The USSR, re-born. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:27:20 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14307/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14323/view Yeah, that title is awful. Someone needs to proof that again. For “Get A Brain”, a large part of our telecommunications infrastructure was built through public subsidies and given large tax breaks to encourage growth. The “tubes” are partially ours. Furthermore, my $50/mo. to Comcast pays for my bandwidth. There’s no need to double charge Google, Amazon, or whoever else I visit on the web. They paid their ISP as well. The President of AT&T doesn’t think getting paid once is enough. On the issue of Comcast throttling, that’s an issue of a lack of infrastructure upgrades. They’ve been putting off upgrading for a long time. They advertise “faster speeds than DSL”, but guess whose network topology still works when the “tubes” are full, and whose doesn’t? Finally, your “let its customers decide” argument. That’d be great if there was actually competition. In the vast majority of markets there is an effective duopoly between the local cable and telephone providers. This is due to former Comm. Powell’s declassification of DSL, which made it so they didn’t have to share lines. Besides pushing our global broadband ranking down the toilet, that’s one move which has made it so consumers have very little choice for internet access. It’s hard for capitalism to work if there’s no competition. Personally, I can get cable internet from Comcast or DSL from AT&T. That’s it. Since they are both against a neutral internet, how exactly can I influence then with my dollars? Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:50:27 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14323/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14334/view Thank you for the first good column in months, Joel. In response to Marcus, I want to point out that a Lansing-owned and operated company, ACD.net, provides DSL service over existing phone lines. It is a few dollars more per month than AT&T or Comcast, but it keeps your dollars with the local economy and out of the hands of those other bastards. ACD.net’s customer service has not been great in my experience, but their internet service has been good. The problem with the customer service, I think, stems from the fact that their focus is on business services. They have also begun deployment of a subscription-based wifi service in downtown Lansing, extending eastward to Sparrow. I am wondering if anyone is familiar with their position on net neutrality. Anyone? Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:26:16 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14334/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14350/view The problem with capitalism and competition is that rarely are the fixed costs low enough to support true competition. Thus, we have system where essentially a duopoly exists. Rather than just arguing for net neutrality, you really should be saying that Comcast and AT&T need to give back the large sums of money they make. This may seem socialist, but it can actually be a capitalist concept as well- why no one is angered that corporations and individuals are allowed to accumulate so much wealth and power is beyond me. IF Comcast were a “poorer” struggling company, they would be more likely to fulfill the needs of their customers rather than their political demands. We need to move beyond Joseph McCarthy’s fear of socialism and realize 1. most of America agrees with the tenants of many socialist concepts and 2. capitalism unrestrained doesn’t work- which is why we have a significant amount of socialist laws to protect us, except no one ever thinks social security, minimum wage, job training, free state education for our Precious Snowflakes, etc… are socialist policies to restrain the power-mad free for all that capitalism really is. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:53:49 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14350/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14361/view For “Get A Brain”, a large part of our telecommunications infrastructure was built through public subsidies and given large tax breaks to encourage growth. >> What about CATV? This is so vague, it is a joke. Furthermore, my $50/mo. to Comcast pays for my bandwidth. There’s no need to double charge Google >> You know what would happen? You one smart dude — because no one really knows. Anything could happen. That is what markets are for. Finally, your “let its customers decide” argument. >> you forgot WiMax, all the WiFi, Sat-com and resellers. Great job — C+ work. >> You a great Democrat. You need to be told what to do. Keep it up — and keep following orders. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:40:43 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14361/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14374/view The “free market will solve all your problems” trump card is much worse and more ridiculous than the idea that government can solve all your problems. I’m tired of it, Mr Get A Brain. The government turned a blind eye while letting the “free market” destroy the economy over the last several years by granting mortgages that shouldn’t have been granted, simply for the sake of making huge (and as it turns out, temporary) profits. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:28:38 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14374/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14442/view The “free market will solve all your problems” trump card is much worse and more ridiculous than the idea that government can solve all your problems. I’m tired of it, Mr Get A Brain. —- So .. you’re advocating .. anarchy? Were you in Cedar Village on Saturday night? Brilliant thinking .. Ann Arbor really lost with that one. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:06:27 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14442/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14450/view “What genius” What you wrote makes absolutely no sense. The point was that neither extreme is positive. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:00:09 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14450/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14587/view The point was that neither extreme is positive. —- Right .. just like your friend Rev. Wright screaming “G.D. America” was misunderstood .. what a load of LIB-BURR-AL bull manure. Re-packaged bull. No one is going to buy that bullsh*t except the Obama-deluded and the senile. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:34:42 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14587/view http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14842/view Give that guy a diploma. Immediately. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:17:46 -0400 http://statenews.com/index.php/comment/14842/view