US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1421

On November 11 2014 15:39 IgnE wrote:
Such as?

How is a law that tells every isp to treat all the information the same and not,for example, charge companies or end users for specific services, empowering the government?

On November 11 2014 16:28 IgnE wrote:
Yeah the NPR story you linked is with a former FCC board member who now is head of some division at Time Warner and a British guy who speaks about the wonders of allowing different companies to offer "services" over the same pipes. It has no in depth discussion at all, no opposing viewpoints, and seems to misunderstand the very nature of the service being offered. They simplify the issues to a facile question: "do you want a choice or are you happy with Comcast?"

If the network is a public good why would you allow a few companies to offer "competing services" for access to it? Those are the perfect circumstances for collusion. There really isn't much to say about distinctions in service. You either have satisfactory internet service or you do not. Distinctions between providers are illusory. There is no scarcity of bandwidth; it's a lie. What we should be doing is building a 21st century network to provide far more bandwidth than everyone here could possibly use. It would be a tiny investment in the infrastructure that has revolutionized the last 20 years.

Edit: for accuracy.

On November 11 2014 08:53 Chewbacca. wrote:

@Doublemint
Crack and heroin hurt a much larger percentage of people than state run lottery does, and in a much more severe way.

No real problems with state run brothel.

Human trafficking doesn't apply because that implies that it isn't voluntary as nobody signs up to be "trafficked"

On November 11 2014 14:57 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

Well, keep in mind that the current market structure is heavily influenced by past FCC regulations / decisions. So it's largely a swap of this regulation for that regulation.

On past FCC reg decisions: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/04/04/299060527/episode-529-the-last-mile

Edit: I mean you could argue that what we have now is a 'regulated industry' like airlines or railroads were (government regulates the competition) that needs to be deregulated.

On November 11 2014 16:00 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

Most of the 'service' part. Yeah, we don't need multiple broadband lines heading into each household, but beyond that I don't see where the 'natural monopoly' kicks in. If you listen to the NPR story I linked, the UK has considerable ISP competition.

On November 11 2014 19:47 Simberto wrote:
Yeah, it's like some of the conservative americans don't even realize how shitty their internet situation is due to the monopoly they have going on, and think that giving those monopoly companies more power to fuck even more people over is a good idea. I can not even wrap my head around this. How can you be both for a free market and against net neutrality? Is regulation only bad if it comes from a government, and not bad if it comes from a monopoly company?

Also, google does not "hog the tubes and should pay more for that". The internet connections to them are already paid for. By the customers. And those customers then decide what they want to look at on the internet.

On November 11 2014 20:59 Sprouter wrote:
The FCC is chaired by a lobbyist that represents the corporations the FCC regulates.

Hi Marv :3

On November 11 2014 23:57 Rassy wrote:
Yes I have to agree, I kinda regret posting the vid as I now discovered it is pretty old (2013 or before)
I dunno,i just like to sometimes post links or comments in this thread in the hope it will chance something one day
I don't take part in the discussion as I find it rather useless but I do hope to raise some awareness.
Even though there are a few democrats in this thread I find this thread very one sided,almost every regular poster on this thread is higher middle class I get the feeling, and the few who are not don't ask any questons either.

Forum should have a block option, that way people can simply block me if they don't like it while I can continue to post something now and then without disturbing the discussion for those who are not interested in my posts

The context here is the growing inequity in the usa and the effects it has on ordinary peoples lifes.
I think it is close to reaching a climax, and the chart of the economist twitter page seems to confirm this.

On November 11 2014 16:28 IgnE wrote:
Yeah the NPR story you linked is with a former FCC board member who now is head of some division at Time Warner and a British guy who speaks about the wonders of allowing different companies to offer "services" over the same pipes. It has no in depth discussion at all, no opposing viewpoints, and seems to misunderstand the very nature of the service being offered. They simplify the issues to a facile question: "do you want a choice or are you happy with Comcast?"

If the network is a public good why would you allow a few companies to offer "competing services" for access to it? Those are the perfect circumstances for collusion. There really isn't much to say about distinctions in service. You either have satisfactory internet service or you do not. Distinctions between providers are illusory. There is no scarcity of bandwidth; it's a lie. What we should be doing is building a 21st century network to provide far more bandwidth than everyone here could possibly use. It would be a tiny investment in the infrastructure that has revolutionized the last 20 years.

Edit: for accuracy.

NEWARK, N.J. — In a small, brightly lit office in Newark, Ojore Lutalo lays out sheet after sheet of paper covered in disquieting words and images — collages made from photographs and cutouts from magazines pasted alongside the text of legal documents and blueprints and Lutalo’s words. They are the product of his incarceration for nearly 30 years in a New Jersey prison, 22 of them in solitary confinement.

“I would create these collages to help maintain my sanity,” said Lutalo. “I would get up every morning. I would read and write, exercise. I’d write letters. Some days I would do collages all day long. I’d just cut and paste, cut and paste.”

On Nov. 12 and 13, the practice of holding incarcerated people in prolonged isolation will come under international scrutiny when the U.S. government goes before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva, part of a periodic review to assess the country’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture and the first U.S. review under Barack Obama’s administration.

This year the 10-person U.N. committee has repeated its concerns about imposing prolonged isolation on prisoners. In a list of issues to be addressed with the U.S. — including the use of secret detention facilities, Guantánamo Bay and the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — the committee has asked the government to “describe steps taken to improve the extremely harsh regime imposed on detainees in ‘Supermax security prisons,’ in particular the practice of prolonged isolation.”

The U.S. government insists that “there is no systematic use of solitary confinement in the United States.” There is abundant evidence to the contrary; Latulo can attest to that. He is just one of tens of thousands of men and women who have spent years, sometimes decades, in solitary confinement in the U.S.

One of Latulo’s collages features a drawing of a detention cell where he was held while awaiting a disciplinary hearing. The blood of a previous occupant, who attempted suicide, was smeared on the walls and floor. In the bottom right-hand corner of the picture, the dimensions of the cell, 9 by 15 feet, are written along with the words “Management Control Unit at Trenton State Prison” and “No touch torture.” Another compares the blueprints and disorienting radial architecture of the once notorious Eastern State Penitentiary with Colorado’s ADX Florence Supermax prison.

On November 12 2014 03:42 JonnyBNoHo wrote:

You seem to be saying that all the service providers do is create artificial barriers to access and than charge for the access. Is that technically true? If so than you have a valid point, if not than your argument has a faulty foundation.

On November 12 2014 05:39 IgnE wrote:

Pay attention to what Time Warner and the privatization people say that the cables companies do. There's a reason that most people have no fucking clue what they do. They install a box in your home, monitor the network they've been granted stewardship of, and collect your money.