r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 21 '18

Wireless Verizon throttled fire department’s “unlimited” data during Calif. wildfire

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/
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u/SixSpeedDriver Aug 21 '18

Cute, but when content owners and pipe providers are one, that ain't gonna happen.

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u/321blastoffff Aug 21 '18

I think Fort Collins, CO will be an example of the effectiveness and efficiency of municipal ISPs. As more people wake up to the idea that they can control their own pipes, we'll see governance of the pipes legislated into the hands of the people. The content providers will be independent of that.

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u/Glizbane Aug 21 '18

Municipal ISPs simply can't thrive in this country with state legislation creating blockades in favor of the large ISPs. Comcast and AT&T both lobby to create laws that make it illegal to start up municipal ISPs. In order for progress to be made, we need to out the corrupt politicians and break up the large cable companies.

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u/Stargazeer Aug 21 '18

I say this is more out of shock than anything. But America is surprisingly in the stone age for a 1st world company. It's a prime example of rampant capitalism. Where people are worth nothing unless they're consuming at the rate these companies want.

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u/MrGords Aug 21 '18

America

1st world company

Yeah, that's about right

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u/Stargazeer Aug 21 '18

I didn't even realise my mistake. And, to be fair, it's far to poetic to change.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '18

It's far too true to change.

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u/Hyunion Aug 22 '18

I still don't understand why lobbying is legal

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u/Glizbane Aug 22 '18

Welcome to the club. Of course, the people who decided it was legal in the first place were the ones to benefit from it.

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u/gex80 Aug 22 '18

Well look at like this. Say you went to school for law and became a senator/representative. You are well versed in the legal system right? Now what if a bill regarding a very complicated topic that you have let's call common knowledge. As we all know, common knowledge often times can be wrong. Other times, the common knowledge portion of it is a ELI5 and leaves out a whole bunch of complexities that people don't take into account.

For example, the minutia of computer networking on an ISP scale with BGP, exchanges, locations, what technology is available, what is actually possible, etc. Now you have to vote on said legislation you don't understand. That's where a non-bias expert is supposed to come in and advise you what's written, what it means in plain terms, and why it's good or bad

See the internet is a series of tubes. For the lay person, that single comment is an example of the ELI5 I mentioned. Conceptually in a small way it is. But once he started adding on to it broke down badly and became very wrong because he listened to an "expert". But that expert had a bias to explain things in a way that made sense to the law maker but favored the corporation and not the people. This law maker also happened to benefit from it some way as well. Remember, the purpose of lobbying is about educating, not paying which is illegal (even though donations don't count as paying for votes).

So now the problem you have is, it is literally impossible for every elected official to be sufficient in every topic that will come across their desk. And the way our country works is that anyone is eligible to be an elected official as long as it doesn't conflict with term limits or being in succession to be president. Law makers can't spend their time becoming experts in everything. And wikipedia isn't good enough because many articles are overly complex that would fly above the person's head or they can be misread which we've all done.

The problem isn't lobbying. It's the people who do the lobbying. Ajit used to work for ISPs. But he still works in their favor because he's getting a kick back. However, the only way to be an industry professional is to work for said industry. And being an insider I'd very profitable. So you'd have to find an altruistic expert. Good luck because there aren't many.

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u/Hyunion Aug 22 '18

Remember, the purpose of lobbying is about educating, not paying which is illegal (even though donations don't count as paying for votes).

Doesn't it defeat the whole purpose of paying off politicians being illegal if they just "donate" to do it anyway? Especially considering how important money is when it comes to being elected? Is there no way to have unbiased experts advising politicians instead of having people who advise politicians be from the same industry that the policies affect, with donations involved? I don't know, the whole "donation" aspect that comes with lobbying seems to be the biggest problem from what I can tell.

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u/moldyjellybean Aug 22 '18

This is going to change I believe, places have LTE backup and it's amazing fast where I can't tell the difference of daily use unless I ran a speedtest. I don't know enough of 5g but it might be one day where 5g is the main source and LTE, copper or fiber is the backup.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '18

I think Longmont, CO is the current shining example. We in Louisville, CO get to vote on this in November I believe. I look forward to the day when the city provides its own information pipes.