Roman Roads Comparison With Unfettered Internet

[Ludovicus]

If mammoth US communications giants get their way, will UNRV and other not-for-profit sites soon be relegated to a back road on the Internet?

 

Here's a quick definition of the concept of "net neutrality," the way the Internet is now:

 

From Newsweek Magazine:

"Neutrality describes the way the Internet works now. All the digital bits that move on the Net, whether they are podcasts, SEC filings or articles in NEWSWEEK, are treated the same, with no fear or favor. This allows a level playing field that promotes innovation, as the humblest start-up or the most modest nonprofit organization can be assured that its content gets the same access to an audience as anyone else's does.

 

But recently the big telcos and cable companies that basically hold a duopoly on Internet service in a given area indicated they'd like a new scheme. They would charge big companies like Google and Yahoo big fees to guarantee that their content got to customers at higher speeds. In other words, there'd be an elite toll road alongside a free but crowded interstate.

 

This loss of neutrality is what upsets the Net community. Google might be able to afford to pay extra, but what about craigslist, which serves millions of people on minimal revenues? Nonprofits and government couldn't come up with the dough to get their content treated favorably. And an innovative start-up like YouTube would never have gotten its audience if its video clips ran in slow motion compared with those of its competitors." from Newsday.

 

 

For a comparison with Imperial Rome from Bill Moyers and Scott Fogdall:

 

"Like the Romans, we Americans have used our technology to build a sprawling infrastructure of ports, railroads and interstates which serves the strength of our economy and the mobility of our society. Yet as significant as these have been, they pale beside the potential of the Internet. Almost overnight, it has made sending and receiving information easier than ever. It has opened a vast new marketplace of ideas, and it is transforming commerce and culture.

 

It may also revitalize democracy.

 

 

[M. Porcius Cato]

This has nothing to do with Roman history at all. It's modern politics with a Roman throw-away line.

[Germanicus]

There's really no need to do the Roman tie in as long as it's here in - Hora Postilla Thermae.

[Primus Pilus]

Besides the fact that his tie in to the Roman Empire is absurd, it seems to me that the author has little if any idea how the internet actually works. Even if there is truth to the notion that companies are smartly attempting to manipulate the internet to their advantage.

[M. Porcius Cato]

There's really no need to do the Roman tie in as long as it's here in - Hora Postilla Thermae.

 

The conspiracy theory, the modern politics, the tenuous connection to Rome... What more do you want? You need to see the trident and the net before consigning this sort of thing to the Arena?

[Primus Pilus]

There's really no need to do the Roman tie in as long as it's here in - Hora Postilla Thermae.

 

The conspiracy theory, the modern politics, the tenuous connection to Rome... What more do you want? You need to see the trident and the net before consigning this sort of thing to the Arena?

 

Indeed this is entirely political... I'll consign it to the arena for those who wish to participate.

[Germanicus]

Wow, the Arena, didn't know it exsisted.

[Primus Pilus]

Wow, the Arena, didn't know it exsisted.

 

Welcome back Germanicus... you'll find that the arena has become a not so subtle home primarily for political discussion.

[Germanicus]

Got it. I suppose it's better than just sending it all to the other side. Some people enjoy it I suppose.

[Gaius Octavius]

The Roman tie in is not the alleged 'throw away' line, rather it is the UNRV connection. That is Roman enough for me.

 

Unless I am once again ignorantly mistaken, is it not the end user who presently pays the service provider for access to the Web? If the monopolies' legislators are going to do as instructed, the the charge to the consumer for access should then be a one time charge for the line filter and let it end there.

 

If one has a Fax machine on a telephone line, and one does not ask for a Distinctive Ring Pattern, there is no charge for the service. The sender pays for the time and distance on line as with a voice call.

 

Once again, unless I am ignorantly mistaken, this proposal sounds like the cell phone racket where both sender and reciever pay for time used. Not to forget the Romeing charges and the Indian Tax over charging rackets.

[M. Porcius Cato]

Wow, the Arena, didn't know it exsisted.

 

Welcome back Germanicus.

[Virgil61]

...

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/1...al_internet.php

 

I'm not particularly worried since most of the big names like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc. in addition to the grass roots movements are lined up in support of net neutrality.

 

It's strikes me as a bit funny though that a medium whose trunk lines are primarily devoted to *or*, *or*, assorted videos, free music and movie downloads and more *or* is put forth as an instrument of democratic action. I know, the blogs are influential as are some discussion groups, but as late as 2003, 90% of the net was devoted to the download of movies and music files.

 

Oh, and welcome back G!

[Moonlapse]

Either way, I don't think it will affect UNRV. But... I think the situation is a catch 22 because it involves U.S. telecommunications.

[M. Porcius Cato]

It's strikes me as a bit funny though that a medium whose trunk lines are primarily devoted to *or*, *or*, assorted videos, free music and movie downloads and more *or* is put forth as an instrument of democratic action. I know, the blogs are influential as are some discussion groups, but as late as 2003, 90% of the net was devoted to the download of movies and music files.

 

Exactly, which is why the costs of these downloads shouldn't be borne equally by all users. There's nothing "neutral" about the situation in which Mr. Horn Dog can clog the internet downloading Brittany Does Manhattan to his heart's content while I can't load a tiny page at www.unrv.com. That's not 'neutral'--it's the breakdown of the commons.

Edited October 19, 2006 by M. Porcius Cato

[Ludovicus]

Exactly, which is why the costs of these downloads shouldn't be borne equally by all users. There's nothing "neutral" about the situation in which Mr. Horn Dog can clog the internet downloading Brittany Does Manhattan to his heart's content while I can't load a tiny page at www.unrv.com. That's not 'neutral'--it's the breakdown of the commons.

 

 

Cato, do you trust your telephone company or your cable service to fairly assign Internet fees?

It's my opinion that the film "Drusilla Does Dacia" is much more elevating and, perhaps, more pertinent to this forum.