FreeTalkLive said:
flashpoint_1230 said:
FreeTalkLive said:
stopstopp said:
Just another example of how USA just keeps getting worse. Why America WHY???
And yes internet is way too expensive and slow compared to other countries. Lack of competition is strangling us, plus the government won't spend the money to at least get internet to people despite the obvious need for it.
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It isn't the government's job to give people internet. Also, people don't need internet. This is at least true in the US. Maybe you live or have been somewhere where one of the reasons the government exists is to give internet to people. In the US, it's the job of people and private companies to work together to get internet.
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No, it's not, but the private industry won't be able to roll out a faster broadband infrastructure alone. Not to mention, I doubt that other countries have so many competing ISPs (I can count 4 major competitors for the USA alone!) That's why the FCC is stepping in. Whether or not they will be successful is the question. It would be a very bad thing if the government just decided to step back and leave it alone. It could mean price hikes, or Netflix streaming could crash our insufficient broadband infrastructure. It is strange that we don't have anything better in place, though.
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Why won't private industry be able to do it on it's own? Though, if it wasn't possible, than perhaps it shouldn't be done at all? The US government has a massive debt problem that is a far larger issue.
The FCC shouldn't be involved at all.
I'm certain Netflix isn't going to crash anything.
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Well, I just wonder how well American ISPs would be able to cooperate. If they could, then a broadband infrastructure could easily be rolled out, but I doubt that it will happen. The US does have a debt problem (I just took Econ., so you don't need to tell me), but it's the FCC's job to ensure that anything involving ISPs goes smoothly. I guess that they couldn't help but to step in. The minimum bar for "broadband access" has been raised, but not nearly enough.
At this point, I think that the matter is mostly with broadband capacity, with speed being a secondary concern. America's internet traffic is increasing, and there simply is not enough to go around. The Netflix thing was a hyperbole, but that certainly adds to the traffic load. During peak hours, Netflix consumes more broadband usage than any other website.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/netflix-instant-accounts-for-20-percent-of-peak-u-s-bandwith-use/
