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63 Comments
- pjh3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+30The only true democracy is Money. You vote with your dollars. The more dollars you have, the more votes you get.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26I would have no problem with what the telcos are doing, if they actually paid for their infastructure. They didnt, the US taxpayers paid for it - as such, the US taxpayers should ultimately decide how it is used. Hearing telco guys calling it "their" network just makes me sick - but it seems that all it takes is gobs of soft money to make them the defacto owners. Making the USA is quite possibly one of the most corrupt governments on the planet.
- Yankees368, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23Our government is as legit as a mafia front.
- skydivingdutch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Welcome to America, where we have the best government money can buy.
- deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16America really needs to switch to public election funding. Our government has sold us out.
- Kirium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16I think it's hillarious how a massive corporation can throw millions of dollars at politicians and buy the legislation they want (or buy congressional silence) and you still call it "lobbying"
Call a spade a spade for god's sake... It's political bribery, no more and no less. - faddat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Some get it, and some don't. If things like this do go through, companies like Amazon and Google who understand the economic benefits of interoperability and the end-to-end design of the web will give the citizens the pipes we need.
- jambarama, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12This is why Jefferson was so scared of large firms forming. Hamilton thought them a necessity for the efficiencies they'd produce, but Jefferson thought that freedom was more important than efficiency.
I don't know who is right. Large firms DO produce massive efficiencies, which means cheaper stuff, higher standard of living. But they also have far too much political influence IMHO. - zeebo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Problem: Because of the way the voting system in the US is set up, you only get to pick between two guys from established parties. Worse, at the moment one party has total control of all three branches of the federal government. We need a change to the voting system that will open it up to more political parties. There are too many voices in the US to be represented by one or two parties.
Right now the only voices getting heard are Corporate voices. Corporations who want nothing more than a system where they have to give nothing back, where labor is cheap (or free), and there are no regulations to stop them from doing whatever they want. Which is probably why all the factories that used to be near where I live, are now all in China.
Whats good for GM is not good for the US. - TheAttacks, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14AT&T: "Your Congress Are Belong To Us"
- positron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10My father always called government ".. the mafia's retarded big brother."
- Ruckus21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Vote! Vote good and vote often!
- Frank_the_Tank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8R.I.P. honest politicians... we hardly (never) knew ye...
- jambarama, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7It would be nice if someone else would step in. I'd pay a premium for unfiltered, unthrottled internet access (my ISP throttles bittorrent to unusable speeds). But the fact of it is that it won't happen unless a huge new disruptive technology comes along. Heres why:
The fixed costs to setting up a network like this are HUGE. The variable costs are trivial. So once you have the network you can charge a ton, and it still won't be worth it for others to duplicate your efforts. Now, since the current ISPs got the government (read: us) to pay for the setup, it was basically free for them.
Google is big but not that big. Not big enough to do more than a few backbones (like speakeasy). This must be fought politically, the market isn't just going to work around these guys. - n00854180t, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I wouldn't be so sure. All we can do is hope that companies like Google and Amazon will fight against the government-sanctioned Bell monopoly, but it's surely not a foregone conclusion (unfortunately).
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Real story here
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_16/b3980078.htm - zirtbow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6You mean people in government positions that vote on these things don't fully understand the impact of decisions they make on technology related items? ... wouldn't have guessed.
Really though... when it comes down to what may be good for people in general or what the public wants and big $ spent by companies that just want their way the companies spending the money will win out every time.
edit: On the upside I hope what you pointed out turns out to be true. Google seems to be pretty good at creating things that very usable by a wide range of people. I'm almost under the impression that if they were to start providing the pipes we want they could almost do no wrong. Heck maybe we will get caught up to some other parts of the world in terms of connection speeds. (yes, I know.. doubtful). - shaun944, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5when they say (paraphrasing:) 'billions of dollars they invested to improve their communications pipeline'
they really mean, billions of taxpayers dollars they spent... - kazsymonds, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Lol all your congress are belong to us!
- Frank_the_Tank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That's what's so *great* about all this: if, like the RIAA, you are an almost complete monopoly, who cares about PR???
- retral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It seems like AT&T is getting about as much bad PR as the RIAA lately :P
- princemuchao, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Google itself isn't that big, but shouldn't Microsoft be concerned about this too? Between MSN, Windows Live, etc, you'd think this would concern them just as much.
- master_of_fm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3and that would put ATT in the #2 lobbyist slot
http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/top.aspx?act=topcompanies - master_of_fm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3from the article...
Here are a few of its findings:
* Verizon Communications Inc. $81,870,000
* SBC Communications Inc. $58,035,037
* AT&T Corp. $53,349,499
* Sprint Corp. $47,276,585
* BellSouth Corp. $33,732,827
* Qwest Communications International Inc. $24,523,480
Since ATT, BellSouth, and SBC are all good ol MaBell again that would be a combined $144 million in contirbutions - TheTyrant63, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5What I do not understand is why do people post up "blogs" when all those blogs do is link to the orignal. I find it annoying.
Thank You for reposting the link. - SoCalDissident, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The reason people post to blogs is that they are trying to get money and hope that someone clicks on an ad on their blog. If Digg was smart, they would just let the submitter pick an ad to be displayed on the Digg page IF the author linked directly to the story. It would help Digg out, because it would drive the quality of the ad.. er, stories up, since you wouldn't have to click to a site then click again, and Digg could split the ad revenue with the poster/submitter.* Business model Patent pending. If Digg makes money off this post, I want a a part, too!
Of course, where do you draw the line between a blog and a legit news story? It's getting harder and harder.
This all sounds off topic to the original point, but it's not, in the fact that it's all driven by money. Whatever system you put in place WILL be abused, just like the telcos are doing. And, if you don't allow huge companies to form, then they are not competitive with those in countries with less restrictions.
And, there is no way to stop corruption, since whatever safeguards you put in place will always be circumvented one way or another. The best you can do is hope for a gridlocked government that can't get anything done. When everyone in the government agrees on anything, it's usually bad news for US. - JohnboiWaltune, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2at&t and verizon buy legislation to control the price of internet access, in exchange for turning over all our data to the gov't... they are all partners in crime.
- Kendal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You have almost 300 million people in the US, can't you just get together and change the system?
Wasn't the whole country founded by revolutionaries and a war by the people for the people?
I think the US is great, but seriously, will do people please do something possitive about the political climate...It's starting to effect Australia in a bad way. - macewan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2our government: the most dangerous and powerful that money can buy..
- jeremy66158, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The best way besides kicking the politicians in the shins, minus the wealth, that we have to get back at the telcos is to build our own network...ownerless...see my profile link
- Polaris75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No geeky jokes about how AT&& looks like a modem command? What's happening to digg?? :-(
- kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Technically, voting with your dollars is plutocracy.
Democracy is based on the "one man, one vote" principle.
If you want to see where plutocracy leads, take a hard look at south america. That's where we're headed. - noahtgreat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Good ***** call man. Now, if only there was some way to actually get someone with balls elected...
- kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Monopolies are the enemies of the free market. And free market forces are negated by monopolistic corruption. Don't bet on St. Google saving internet choice and freedom when our Republican congress has been purchased lockstock by the Bells.
- Kriz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3blog spam. quit submiting your crap, Gralla.
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Our government is run by the people, as it always has been. People are just too ignorant and stupid to pay attention to who they're voting for. Guess what guys: if you vote for the rich white guys to win, guess who's going to be in power?
Want more from our government? Demand more. - paolonorte, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"The only true democracy is Money. You vote with your dollars. The more dollars you have, the more votes you get."
My god, the etymylogical conflict within that statement! "Democracy: Derived from two ancient Greek words demos (the people) and kratos (strength)."
May I recommend the word 'Minacracy". A Mina was a Greek coin, and sounds a bit like money, and literally means 'strength from money', which is what you're describing. - puffarthur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Depends on what you mean by "efficiency". Yes there are economies of scale (the bigger you get and the more you produce, the cheaper it is), but that benefits the corporation. This does not translate into market price efficiency, in fact the opposite; a monopoly, oligopoly or monopolistically competitive market will naturally yield higher prices. There are very few "natural monopolies" in economics where a monopoly or oligopoly actually is the most efficient, such as water or power.
- DigeratiPrime, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1perhaps people should organize block vote a 3rd party until IRV is established by either the dems/repubs (or both!) and then the organized block vote could dissolve.
- AngryPenguin47, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's it! I'm running for public office. I am a homegrown Hoosier and telcos are really chapping my ass. Who will vote for me?
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Remember this website: http://www.ipaction.org - it's a new political action committee whose purpose is to provide some balance with respect to technology issues. Those in office who dislike the notion of balance may find themselves facing a tough election the next time around, despite all the bribes from various business interests. If you want to let elected officials know that you're serious about technology, this might be a good way to go about it.
- captainahab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good idea. Move to Canada. If you ever need a major surgery you might die waiting in line, but at least you'll have great Internet access.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A big problem is congress interpretes free speech as the ability to give lots of money to them.
It's funny how tightly they cling to the constitution when it matters to them but other times it is an outdated hinderance.
Verizon giving 80 million in less than 10 years is amazing.. i guess it explains how they got that sweet deal with the old gov bandwidth.
I wish when we vote we could give a why we arent voting for the incumbant.. - Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The problem is that Republicrats know they're going to win. So, they're only interested in pleasing themselves and those who fund them. The only way we're going to get them interested in working for the public good again is to vote 3rd party. I prefer the Libertarians. But, really, any 3rd party will do.
- gamblore, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3makes sense...i would do the same if i had that kind of money and power
dugg for the picture of the author....haha - charlesfrith, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I think the plutocracy is more appropriate when it comes to Texan presidents. LBJ did very well while in power too for a kid who came from nothing. Maybe it's an oil addiction thing!
- Legion303, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Telcos spent a whopping $60 million in lobbying money"
AT&T bending over and taking it in the ass from the NSA helps too. - hackjack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Do ya'll really beleive that the telcos can bully companies like Google and Microsoft, with their enormous market and financial strength?! I guess I just have more faith in the market than I do in Congress. And truly, if you beleive than members of Congress can be bought, do you really want them to be regulating the internet?
- theotherme, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4all your congress are belong to us
- definiteform, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Reason #43928498234902 to move out of the United States.
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