ISP's accused in intentionally providing slow internet service to extort money
http://news.yahoo.com/case-against-time-warner-comcast-201015347.html
Clearly, more competition is needed.
"What's the problem that needs a solution?"
And they are basically creating a Christie-like traffic jam, and charging to bypass it. :rulz:Companies want money.
Agreed.There's no reason at all for the internet not to be classified as a public utility like phone service
Moreover, telecom carriers invested 55 percent more to upgrade networks and services during the period when they were classified as common carriers than they have in the years since the FCC removed common-carrier rules from broadband services. Businesses invest and profit as common carriers.
In other countries, regulation has forced cable companies to compete with each other. In the early 2000s, France ordered state-owned monopoly France Telecom to lease the use of its network to competitors at regulated rates. This "local loop unbundling" supercharged competition. New companies entered the market by piggybacking on France Telecom’s network, then built their own.
As a result, the French typically pay about a quarter of what Americans shell out for a "triple play" phone, TV, and internet package, according to a 2012 book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning financial reporter David Cay Johnston.
The US tried to implement similar unbundling regulations in the mid-’90s, but incumbent cable companies repeatedly challenged them in court, set prohibitively high prices for the use of their networks, and applied pressure on politicians. Eventually, government officials were forced to reverse the policy.
Furthermore, while the acquisition will result in cost-savings for Comcast, the company says, those savings won’t necessarily accrue to customers. "We’re certainly not promising that customer bills are going to go down or that they’ll increase less rapidly," Comcast executive vice president David Cohen has said.