Sunday, November 20, 2011
CHAPTER 23 THOUGHT 2
With the internet moving to broadband, The author says cable companies often "discriminate" against its customers on the internet services they provide. The companies offer different routers which have different speeds of internet available. This limits the content the customer can view (such as videos) if they buy the slower internet available. The Cable companies also often block competitors advertising on their web. Do you feel this is Discrimination? If the Cable companies are allowed to continue to regulate their internet services they provide, do you think this could get out of hand in the future?
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I never knew they could block certain things from people! That was crazy to me. I do feel it is unfair. People should be able to see and do whatever they want if they are paying for it with their own money. This could most definitely get out of hand in the future if it increases or get's worse with regulating different things, what will they be allowed to view and not allowed to view? I feel this could be a huge problem, it all comes back down to privacy. It's our business not somebody else's what we wanna do with out internet or computers.
ReplyDeleteIf the cable companies have that much control over what people can and can not see then the government needs to step in and make some regulations against the rights of the person. We are paying for a service and we should be able to pick what we want.
ReplyDeleteI’m waiting for my cable company (the one that provides my internet service) to try to block Hulu and other sites that allow me to watch shows at a fraction of the price, if not for free.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the time that I see an ad for a competitor, I find out that the service is not offered in my area. I think the monopolies they have are a bigger problem.
I do think this could get out of hand but not for a while. As of right now we still receive a lot of our advertisements from T.V. and other outlets but this could very well change in the future. Eventually the government may need to step in, but I doubt it will ever happen. Usually once a company becomes so lucrative they only gain more power. This trend will more than likely continue.
ReplyDeleteCorporations (internet providers)are formed to produce profit. They usually do so by crushing their competition. In order for corporations to behave, they seem to need a certain amount of government regulation. Any time a new technology is politicized, it is already out of hand. Corporate America IMHO is certainly way out of hand at this point in time.
ReplyDeleteAre the slower speeds at a lower price? Is this done to make it more affordable? Are the faster speeds available if you wish to pay more for them? If they are picking and choosing who gets what then I think it is wrong but if I choose a slower speed to save some money than that was my choice. I don't feel they should be able to block competitors though. I definitely think that this could get out of hand just like anything else.
ReplyDeleteI think if the slower speeds are at a lower price then it cant discriminate. its up to the person on how much they are willing to pay for internet. if they are trying to say only poor people will get slower internet than that's a lie because the government gives people on welfare free or a fixed rate of internet and cable service so that they can have cable and internet for there children. its not about being poor its about knowing your information and how much your willing to pay.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. If you're paying more for faster internet and less for slower internet this makes absolute sense. There has to be some way to allocate resources, including broadband connections, or else the internet would run slow for everyone because some people would be weighing down the networks with large downloads or constantly streamed videos. It could be viewed as just another household utility. If water and heat were at a flat rate, people would be way more wasteful.
ReplyDeleteIts just business, DSL companies do the same thing. No company would want you to advertise against them on their own domain, that would be counter productive.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that they can block things I feel like is overstepping their power as a cable provider. But I think that slower internet for a cheaper service is completely understandable. You pay for what you get. If someone wants faster internet they can shell out the extra cash. I don't like that internet providers (or any corporation) have so much influence over people's lives, but unfortunately, that is the world in which we live.
ReplyDeleteCopyrights do stunt the growth of development of new technology; that is why it was developed in a sense. Copyrights, as we all know, are enforced to protect an individual or a company's ideas (research, materials, writings) so they could continue to innovate without the injustice of another taking their ideas. Although one might find fault in the copyright rule because it inhibits development, one must also understand it's protective properties. It is clear that there would be much to be gained by using other people's work and inventions for personal gain and even the greater good in the moment; however, without protection of one's ideas, the long term benefit would be lost because the profit needed to finance such innovation would suffer. We live in a capitalist society. Although it is not a perfect system, its principles have placed those enact them over the rest of the world in innovation and development.
ReplyDeleteIf a company would like to block competitors from their sites then they should be allowed to. If you were selling eggs, would you put your competitors on your egg cartons to make it fare?
ReplyDeleteWhere it gets a little grey is when customers think (and are told) they are getting full service when in fact they are not. That would be considered false advertising.
This is always going to be the case when you have something so wildly out of control as the internet. It is not easy for all of the moving pieces involved in the internet business to line up and for advertisers and such to get on board with one another.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do think that this a type of discrimination, as well as a shady practice, but where ever money is involved, you an expect shady activity. Maybe their should be some kind of policy or regulation that all, services or providers or whatever are open to all.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they have gotten to this point yet, but if companies get to this point then we will have a very large problem. There has been a lot of debate about SOPA recently and I feel it is another attempt for companies to get control like how you are describing. I'm hoping that this bill doesn't pass.
ReplyDeleteIf these companies truly have this much power, than this seems almost as if it is a small monopoly. They are basically not allowing their competition and limiting people to having only their product.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that cable companies are discriminating against their customers. I think cable companies have the right to block other cable companies on their internet. The cable companies will offer different speeds for the people who can not afford to pay for the faster internet.
ReplyDeleteI do not think this is discrimination; the internet providers are open about the cost of the internet. They have it set up as the cost is lower because you are getting a slower speed. They are not hiding this information from you, nor are they only offering it to certain people. This is no different then your cell phone company saying that you have 3 G or 4 G. the higher the speed the more the phone is going to cost your.
ReplyDelete