Saturday, May 3, 2014

Let’s talk about Net Neutrality.

                Well ladies and gents Hank Green put up a very good debate about it with himself. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2aso6W7jQ) Yes, movie magic to explain how there are two Hanks in there. Well in watching this I did write to the FCC as you can see below and I encourage you all to do so as well.
                We are looking at the age of Empires revisited sadly enough. Instead of the Barons of Steel and such; we have the Barons of Oil we’re looking at the Barons of communications. This is covers the internet, mobile and even v-phones. V-phones are internet based phones like Vonage and companies that use the internet for communications.
                You see Comcast as already slowed down Netflix and sadly I can’t even use it anymore on my blu ray due to the low speeds on it. I can watch on my phone or the computer which kind of kills out the idea of sitting around the living room for family movie night. I think that what Comcast has done and can do is wrong.
                I would encourage people to contact the FCC; Hank did put the links in his vlog they will be down below as well for your convenience. I think that we need now is to band together and tell the government we aren’t going to let companies dictate to us what they will and won’t provide us. Why do we have to accept what Comcast deems is acceptable for our internet usage based on the package we have for the internet?
                Yes I use Netflix; I shouldn’t have to pay for higher speeds due to Comcast slowing down Netflix to milk money out of me. What’s next? Slowing down vongage and other net based phone companies because we don’t want Xfinity Voice? Does that mean if the bandwidth is slowed down am I not going to be able to call anyone? What if I need to call 911; does that mean my call might not go through?
                There has to be limits and regulations on the cable companies as to what they can and can’t do for gain or retain customers. Since they’ve already squeezed out most of the competition; thanks Time Warner and Comcast for that. When I mean squeezed the competition I mean that Time Warner and Comcast would charge NetZero and other ISPs a fee for them to use their cable lines. They raised their fees and now well … not many companies can offer ‘cable based or cable line’ internet. Most can work on a DSL base and if you’re not close to the HUB with a DSL it isn’t exactly reliable. However it is an alternative to the Cable based companies.
                With that said; who’s to say Comcast and other moguls aren’t looking at buying into the DSL market? Yes, I do realize this is all based on speculation however with the precedence already in play with Netflix; many wonder what they will do next. I think that with Hank and Bernie Su and other content creators on You tube as well as us streamers on Twitch have to wonder if our work will be effected. This is a slippery slope that we are on; how much do we allow them to dictate to us and how much will we fight back for our right to the internet. One had to figure out if the net is really worth fighting for or are we going to let the companies dictate to us how much it worth is to us to have it.

Below is my comment to the FCC. What are your thoughts on it?

As Always,
Junie

PS: you want to check your net speed? Here’s the link; what you think you’re getting from the internet might not be exactly what you thought. http://www.speedtest.net/

PPS : Hank did provide all of the links to contact the FFC in his vlog. Please make a public comment here!
http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/begin... Tell the FCC that they should reclassify broadband internet as a telecommunications (or "Common carrier") service. Right now broadband is regulated like TV or radio, which doesn't make sense. This is a public comment for the public record...official government stuff... so you'll have to include your actual name and address.

You can also email the FCC directly here: http://dft.ba/-tell_the_FCC If you want to help some organizations that work their butts off trying to fight the telecoms, check out: Save The Internet (from FreePress) http://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home Public Knowledge: http://www.publicknowledge.org/
And contact your congress people: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml *Thank you Mr. Hank Green for all of this information.*

To the FCC:

                I am a Comcast user and I have used their services not just for entertainment but for communication. You see has Comcast flipped over into the telecommunication service when they started to provide their own brand of ‘internet phone usage’ with their Xfinity Voice. This is a phone service that provides communication through their bandwidth. Now our family doesn’t use this service we use Vonage. Who’s to say they won’t slow down the bandwidth so that we don’t receive or aren’t able to make phone calls with their ability to control the competition? I won’t be able to make 911 calls because of the lack of bandwidth. I took the OOKLA speed test; and mind you we have the medium package of Comcast. Our download speed was 28.86 Mbps where our upload speed was only 5.93 Mbps. What if Comcast wants my family to pay for more bandwidth to use a phone and there is an emergency. There is a chance we aren’t able to call 911 for help due to the low bandwidth.


 If Comcast isn’t listed as a telecommunications service; heck if the internet isn’t classified as a telecommunications service people will be at the mercy of corporations. These corporations won’t be then held accountable by the government on any level and will be able to do anything they wish. We look to you; to keep these companies fair and balanced. Since Comcast has been already lowering the bandwidth with Nexflix who’s to say they won’t do it to Vonage or other communication devices because it’s not their service. They have jumped into the telecommunication ring; now it’s up to the FCC to make sure they are adhering to the rules and regulations that the FCC has put forth to make things an level playing field. Thank you for taking the time to read this. 

No comments:

Post a Comment