Even though repeated losses in court are making the Net Neutrality folks have to compromise with reality, the fact is they’re still freaking out about the ability to charge more for better service, which is a good thing to have. The facts are though that we don’t need new laws, and the laws they do want would just pick winners and losers, which is why Netflix is pushing so hard. If the roles are reversed they’d be screaming that I was being paid by Netflix.
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In Monday’s Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson really went off in favor of Net Neutrality, the policy that twice has been struck down by the courts as an illegal power grab by the FCC, and is being promoted a third time by the Obama FCC at the behest of the radical socialist wing of his party.
Francis Cianfrocca I thought put in a good effort trying to be even handed about the whole thing, but I wanted to respond to a message like that making it to the front page of RedState. I understand where both of them are coming from, and I think it’s important to explain why Net Neutrality really is a terrible idea.
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So a continuing look at the NetMundial meeting to argue why American stewardship of the Internet is bad. It got hijacked by the Net Neutrality folks and the anti-American folks (with NSA as the word the Orwellian sheep are bleating), which tells you all about the orientation of this movement. Fortunately our adversaries have all the efficiency of the UN: “There were so many welcome speeches, and they went so much over time, that we did not even begin the substantive work of the conference until 5:30pm.”
Even as Putin calls the Internet a CIA project, Obama wants to hand over the Internet to these guys? Insane. Of course, it’s insane that he’s trying again on Net Neturality, though amusingly some Democrats are complaining this third attempt compromises too much.
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While Bitcoin is traceable, that process can be made very difficult by a determined attacker, because of the existence of sophisticated money laundering operations in the Bitcoin community, operations designed specifically to aid criminals. So I think it makes sense for the FEC to place cash-like restrictions on Bitcoin. As long as we’re stuck with these laws, it doesn’t make sense to give Bitcoin a special exception.
The quest to deliver the Internet from American-guaranteed liberty and into Russo-Sino-tyranny is on, down in Brazil. They call it NetMundial, but’s really a one country thing. It’s just an anti-American hate fest.
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I talk about anarchists often in this space, but I mean it. These people are a threat. Here’s one cell making threats and demanding $3 billion from Google in blackmail.
And that’s why it’s so incredibly insane that the US Government keeps playing blame the victim with these guys, as in the Wyndham case. It’s going to be up to the Congress to reel in the FTC on this.
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Imagine you have a neighbor, let’s call him Chet Glix. He comes over and offers a deal to you: When he’s out of town, you water his plants, feed his pet, mow his lawn, and get his mail. When you’re out of town, he’ll do the same for you. Sound fair? Not quite. He travels once a week, you travel once everyfew months. Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of unbalanced “peering” deal Netflix wants to force ISPs to make under the name of “Net Neutrality.” And that’s why we should reject Netflix calling fairness and paying for what you use a “tax”
What if we called Netflix’s fees an unfair tax and demanded they give us free movie peering in the name of Movie Neturality?
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