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Comment by ams6110 | Hacker News Reader

They won't, because they've seen what happens when they do that. People are leaving cable TV because it is a selected menu of channels. No choice. ISPs who attempt to limit choice will find themselves without subscribers. If Comcast decided I can't access Netflix on my internet plan, I'm gone.

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Many people have no choice in their broadband provider[1]--of those that do, their choices are often between corporations that also have significant interest in TV and cable TV (even moreso if the AT&T/Time Warner deal goes through).

Without net neutrality and with effective monopolies or duopolies in many high speed markets, these companies would have both the ability and the direct incentive to limit or restrict access to any form of competition--it would be bad business for them NOT to do everything they can to shut down Netflix, Hulu, et al and redirect people to their own distribution platforms.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/08/us-br...

FCC is complicit here as well. They measure "competition" by checking to see if one or more broadband provider exists in the same census tract. So basically there is "competition" in so much that you can move to a new residence if you want different service.

Except where I live, I do not have any other ISPs besides Comcast.

This is the crux of the issue. Without consumer choice, an ISP can target whatever local regions it wants with specific, anti-consumer plans. Unless there is an regulation to keep them in check..

Providers should be forced to lease line access wholesale the way carriers have / had been forced to do so to MVNOs.

"If Comcast decided I can't access Netflix on my internet plan, I'm gone."

Where are you going to go to?

The FCC Chairman assures us that there is a robust and competitive marketplace for internet services.

>assures

yeah, but how?

Me? No where. I'd probably figure out how to live life without the internet, by and large. I know for many people that isn't an option, but personally I've lived without the internet for a good chunk of my life, and I can do it again. I'd probably be happier anyway. I'd probably read more books, get out into the community more, maybe learn a new instrument. My parents live without the internet and they're getting through life fine in 2017.

My banks are virtual (one, literally, and the other has 2 branches around me, each only an hour away). My bills are virtual. I like to remote into work instead of driving there to fix random build failures. Video games are almost unworkable without an internet connection. The internet is the only source for new software that I've used in at least 5 years (and the only source for Linux software I've ever had).

A little over half my life, I didn't have internet access, but that doesn't describe my situation now. It's like imagining life without a car. I'd survive, but life wouldn't be the same, and I'm not convinced it would be better.

You and I are in the same boat, virtual bank and all. I'm actually a little more tethered to the Internet, because I work remotely. But I feel like my vote is meaningless these days. I feel powerless. The only real vote that anyone listens to anymore is a vote with your wallet, and if it comes to that, I'm damn well ready to make that vote. Drastic times call for drastic measures and all that. I know not everyone can do that, but I can and I will. It won't be just Comcast losing my money, but my bank, Netflix, Hulu Amazon, eBay, Newegg... All of it.

I'll tell you one thing, if corporations thought the response to ending net neutrality would be along the lines I propose en masse, they wouldn't even be thinking about it. Problem is, they're 100% right people will just suck it up and go along with it.

Honestly, as more time passes I'm becoming more convinced this whole Internet thing is going a bit too far. When it was new, I saw a bright future for it but this? This is on track to becoming very dystopian in the near future. Actually there's a pretty good argument that we're already in a nightmare scenario.

> The only real vote that anyone listens to anymore is a vote with your wallet, and if it comes to that, I'm damn well ready to make that vote

https://supporters.eff.org/donate https://contribute.itstarts.today//2018 https://indivisible435.org/

There is no alternative to comcast, so what do I do for Internet since Comcast has basically a monopoly in my apartment building?

The world of cable TV is exactly what they're dying to bring back. Those 30 years of monopolized cable were very good to the telecos.

They will, because in many places they are monopolists. If the law doesn't restrict them, the user has already lost.

So what is everyone worried about?

Even if the ISPs did that, I'm sure at least one would advertise "We offer all websites unrestricted, no limits!!" and everyone would subscribe to them.

Getting a new ISP started is a pain. Witness the legal troubles Google and their partner cities went through when the cities passed "one touch make ready" laws to simplify the process of Google and other new ISPs stringing new lines. [1]

ISPs are going through a consolidation process in the USA, so we're all ending up with less choice, not more.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Touch_Make_Ready#Legal_Cha...

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