Who among us believes repeal of Net Neutrality...

[ret5hd]

will make things change today or tomorrow?

I contend essentially none of us believe that. Those fighting for the repeal aren't that stupid...they realize the fragility of the now-status-quo, and not many would tolerate being instantly charged extra for email access or political sites being censored or movies being slowed to a crawl.

No, we all know how it will happen. We just have to calmly analyze the situation. They will make us ASK for it. They will make us BEG for it. It will take years for it to be fully implemented. It has to seem natural, organic, just "the way things are". Incremental changes that aren't enough to revolt about.

It will start slowly, gradually. First, new "User Agreements" and "Terms of Service" will be agreed to...and as usual we won't read them. It doesn't matter...what choice do you have? More ads, then more ads. Then entire pages of ads to get where you want. Ads in the middle of your movie, ads between each email you read. An ad before loading a post from DU or some other site. Slowly building, almost unnoticeable at first. A minor annoyance. It keeps getting worse. And worse. And worse.

Finally a new "Premium Net Experience" will be offered. And we will jump on it...with GLEE! "It will be just like the old days" we will say. And things will be OK (but more expensive) for a while. Then the cycle will start over.

So yeah...I agree in part (for today and tomorrow) with those twits on DU and elsewhere that claim "Nothing is going to change! It's the same as it was a couple years ago...Don't worry, be HAPPY!" It won't change (today or tomorrow). You will hardly notice the changes...at first.

But when you do notice, you will be happy to pay extra for what you already have today. They did not spend millions of dollars for nuthin'...I guarantee you that.

So, to those aforementioned twits, I say "Fuck you. I can see the game plan."

[skylucy]

1. +1000

[msongs]

2. spectrum (formerly time/warner) already jacks people for stand alone internet access

bundling makes total cost go up even tho "internet" portion is less. problem with that is the internet part of the bundle is way lower quality than stand alone. and bundling means you have to get total garbage trash cable tv not worth watching and other garbage that is unwanted.

[FSogol]

3. When your ISP changes something, call and cancel your service.

They'll get the message.

[ret5hd]

5. And change to what?

In my area (admittedly better than a lot of areas) I have the choice of Charter Cable (cable), ATT (DSL), and dial-up. Which of those do you expect to be the "best" choice in a few years?

[Initech]

15. Yeah I have no choice.

Where I am, I'm stuck with Spectrum. The only other alternative is to use my cell phone, then I'm stuck with Verizon and have to pay already obscenely high data rates for cell tethering.

[ret5hd]

6. And also, what about when you are away from home?

That motel wifi...think about that. Remember (not that long ago to me) the old days when hotels/motels had their own privately owned phone "networks" and you could be charged up to about $5.00/min for a long distance call to home or office?

In the somewhat near future, think of something like "net-roaming charges" or some such thing...but for a few $$$ extra...

[Jspur]

4. Obviously there are

not going to jack up prices tomorrow because they know people would revolt against them immediately. They are counting on doing it over time like you said. They are also hoping people's memories are short term that by the time they realize what's going on that it will be too late.

[onenote]

14. what old rule kept them from jacking up prices?

Net Neutrality isn't about the retail price of Internet Access. It's about the ISPs turning around and demanding a piece of the action from Netflix, and Amazon, and Google -- the companies that use the ISPs last mile to get to paying (or ad revenue generating) customers. The ISPs won't necessarily threaten to block those big companies -- rather, they'll use their ability, in the absence of net neutrality regulation, to discriminate amongst those that deliver content to the ISPs customers, focusing on speed and data caps. If Netflix wants its customers to get an optimal experience, they're going to have to pay the ISP to make sure that happens.

[wasupaloopa]

7. It reminds me of telephone service.

Growing up we had local and long distance service. You paid Ma Bell for the local service and you paid extra for a long distance call.

Then with the break up of Ma Bell different companies started offering plans. What you use to get for one flat fee started to be sliced and diced and you had to pay for a plan that may or may not give you what you had before.

They started selling long distance plans. I had basic AT&T long distance and paid for what I used. With the plan you paid whether you used it or not. I would not change because I called long distance so infrequently I did not want to pay for what I did not use.

I was hounded to buy a plan. I never did.

Now with cell phones everything is a plan.

To me the end of net neutrality means there is a new middleman between you and the internet. That middleman will be allowed to make you pay more for what you use to get in the one price you paid for service.

You will have to buy a plan. Some thing that is not really needed but something invented and forced on you. It's like giving corporations the right to sell you the air you breath and the water you drink.

[tazkcmo]

8. Independent Thought Warning!!!

Your attitude seems to suggest that you have no Faith in the almighty Free Hand Of The Market and this is obviously less than acceptable to our beleaguered corporations and moneyed gentry.

You have been Put On Notice.













sarcasm

[Hoyt]

9. I guess I am one of those "twits" that don't expect much change short- or long-term.

While I felt more comfortable under Obama Admin's rules, I don't think the masses will see much change and I don't believe this is some great conspiracy for white wing GOPers to take over America. I do believe they want that, but the internet ain't the battleground.

Again I wish they left well enough alone, but here are a few articles that kind of express what I think all this means. Yes, I've read the dire prediction opinions too. Everyone of them says this crap COULD happen, not one creditable source says it WILL happen.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/nation-now/2017/12/13/end-net-neutrality-federal-meddling-cant-improve-internet-jon-gabriel-column/928647001/

http://fortune.com/2017/12/13/fcc-net-neutrality-vote/

[ret5hd]

12. I also don't believe it's a "great conspiracy for white wing...

GOPers to take over America".

I think it's a money thing.

Why, exactly, did they spend money on repealing a regulation if there is no intent on their part to recovering that money? That is not a rhetorical question. I would appreciate your thoughts.

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. It will be slow to affect us in most aspects.....

but we WILL be affected in a negative manner. If you do not believe this, you have your head in the sand.

[HopeAgain]

11. It will happen soon...

How many of us have cut the cable in favor of things like Hulu, Neflix and Sling? That's $65+ per customer that Comcast can now recoup.

[FarCenter]

13. It's all about video. Other types of traffic are small in comparison.

Consumer internet traffic, 2016–2021

This category encompasses any IP traffic that crosses the Internet and is not confined to a single service provider’s network. Internet video streaming and downloads are beginning to take a larger share of bandwidth and will grow to more than 81 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021 (Table 8).

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html#_Toc484813985

Online gaming is the fastest growing category, and it is delay-sensitive traffic, so maybe the ISPs are thinking of bringing out a low delay service for gaming?

[mia]

16. Thank you for bringing me back from the extremes of my net non-neutrality thinking.

After reading an "aforementioned" denier's post, I imagined "The Book of Eli" and searched Ebay for a printing press. I was seriously wondering if my etching and printmaking skills would help me to find a job.

[snooper2]

17. Net Neutrality has nothing to do with "ads",

You do realize that every packet sent over the intertubes is marked as "Best Effort" currently right?

We have more important things that go over the intertubes like VoIP traffic. That is why it is classified by most all carriers as AF31 for Signaling (call setup) and EF for RTP (the audio).

[ret5hd]

19. You may be right...I'm certainly not going to argue...

on a technical subject in which I am unschooled.

But...
My true point wasn't the --exact-- mechanism with which they are going to screw us...it was more the general method. It won't go to shit today or tomorrow...they realize the current situation is too tenuous. They can't change everything in a week and expect us to sit still for it.

It will be gradual, and it may be in ways that neither of us has contemplated. I used ads in my scenario 'cause it's a way I can understand, and it's a way I could see them jacking me with. Another poster said something about gaming. Maybe it will be that. Or VOIP. Or ads. Or a combination of all the above plus other things neither of us has thought about. I don't pretend to be a prophet.

But I don't need to be a prophet to see that profit will come before my welfare.

[Lee-Lee]

18. Part of the problem is when people see no change for a while

All the people who went overboard with the dire predictions of “the end of the internet as we know it” and such will have lost credibility.

I wish most people who had spoken up on this had been more realistic about their predictions and not resorted to hyperbole. It’s bad, but it’s not “omg things are going to shit right away” bad and that’s kind of how it was sold.