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Comment by nerfhammer | Hacker News Reader

> Please explain how is the very same government who allows the communication monopolies to exist, supposed to also ensure that they are "neutral"? It seems awfully convenient that the solutions to problems that government creates is to have more government.

The government "allowing" monopolies to exist is an example of the government NOT doing something. Besides the matter of conflating federal anti-trust, state governments & the FCC as being essentially the same thing, if government intervention is defined to include non-intervention then conveniently literally everything is the government's fault. The government "allowing" the lack of net neutrality is also "more government" by this definition.

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>The government "allowing" monopolies to exist is an example of the government NOT doing something.

The FCC strictly controls who can use wireless spectrum for the purposes of protecting the monopoly status of those who pay big bucks to buy spectrum from their auctions.

Further, you do know that ATT was once a national / quasi-govt run monopoly?

Lastly, its not just the Feds, CLEC / ILEC classifications at the local level virtually ensure only the big players can ever call themselves a "phone company".

No, what he means is, in NY for instance, cable operators must agree to state, city franchise agreement to do business there and that's how we end up with the communication monopolies/oligarchy locally. It's an artificial barrier erected by gov't that ultimately inhibits competition -- all in the name of public interest.

So you're cool if I dig up your street very few months? I want to offer service to your neighbor.

The government doesn't create local communication monopolies. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either lying or hasn't thought very hard about the subject.

yes in fact i would be ok. I would prefer slight inconvenience every few months and actually having a decently competitive ISP market.

side note: given constant need to dig up the streets to lay cable, wouldn't the local government opt to install a large conduit.

I didn't say I wanted to offer you service, just your neighbor. He's more profitable. You don't get to benefit personally from all the interruption, but in order to have anything approaching a free/competitive market, you'd have to tolerate it.

In NYC, there's weekly subway, road service disruption & delay every weekend due to maintenance. In Brooklyn, where my parents used to live, there is no weekend service for a good part of the year.

On the other hand, most Verizon maintenances I've noticed are almost always done at night. It's a good guess that most telecomm providers are not as inconsiderate as public work performed, owned and run by gov't. I likewise won't mind them digging and patching up streets every now and then.

Yeah, and allowing Verizon access has worked out so well that the city is suing them for lack of rollout.

Government is not the barrier to competition.

This does not help prove your point. On the contrary, this dispute between Verizon and the City of New York precisely demonstrates the artificial barrier and impossible terms and conditions (ie, FIOS to every home) the city gov't created to maintain duopoly in high speed broadband connectivity in the city and keep away potential entrants (ie, competitors to the duopoly).

I disagree that the it was inaction by government that allowed monopolies. The regulation the government put in in the first place have at a minimum contributed heavily to creating high barriers to entry.

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