The FCC Still Doesn’t Know How the Internet Works

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/12/fcc-still-doesnt-know-how-internet-works

by noncoml • 9 years ago

73 18 9 years ago

duxup• 9 years ago

I'd like to know if "they" really don't know, or simply someone(s) were tasked to come up with some arguments and those in power really don't care how accurate it is or not.

rhino3693• 9 years ago

The problem is shoehorning the internet into a regulatory scheme devised in the 1930s for telephone service that was modified pre-modern internet (in 1996). The regulatory scheme was designed to regulate Southern Bell, a telecommunication service, who used to dial into an "information service" like CompuServe, without harshly regulating CompuServe.

But broadband ISPs sort of operate as both and neither. You can call them either an information service or a telecommunication service depending on how you view them. But there are problems with both labels.

Which led the FCC labeling cable broadband an info service and DSL a telecommunication service. That ruined the DSL market in the USA until the FCC decided to label all ISPs as information services.

In 2015, the FCC switched back to telecommunication service because they lacked the power to apply net neutrality to an info service.

Really, we need a new regulatory scheme, but good luck getting that through congress.

RandomInteger42• 9 years ago

I'm going to need you to provide some sources, because that smells an awful lot like complete horse shit.

magila2• 9 years ago

The DSL market was doomed to failure not because it was classified as a telecommunication service, but because it is technically inferior to cable. DSL's limited range and bandwidth causes it to have spotty coverage and generally slower speeds than cable. Slower speed by itself might not have been fatal, but it also caused even more spotty availability of TV service over DSL. The inability to offer "triple play" service made DSL unattractive compared to cable even for people who didn't care too much about the speed of their internet service.

pseudalopex• 9 years ago

The problem is believing the economics of running wires to everyone's home has fundamentally changed since the 1990s. Vertically integrated broadband ISPs have elements of both telecommunications and information services. The FCC chose to allow vertical integration, supposedly believing it would increase competition. Other countries kept them separate and have more competitive markets as a result.

austincheney2• 9 years ago

To be fair almost none of those points, while completely valid, are within the FCC's charter.

The only regulatory mandate the FCC has with regard to internet is to ensure that ISPs offer uniformity of pricing and service as those schemes cross state boundaries (interstate regulation of wires and transmission), which isn't the problem net neutrality aims to solve.

neom2• 9 years ago

I used to believe that also, but it turns out the FCC does the FTCs job when it comes to telecom and the internet (anti-trust etc) in the context of media. Personally I think that's the most important issue here, in my opinion the FCC is doing a job the FTC should be doing.

austincheney2• 9 years ago

Good point. I really wish congress would codify this so that things like net neutrality would have no excuse for contention.

corey_moncure• 9 years ago

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his job depends upon his not understanding it!"

combo4327• 9 years ago

EFF claims that caching is not a integral part for ISPs. They use Sonic as an example, but why no mention of other ISPs? Doesn't this link say otherwise?

"For unanticipated traffic spikes, Comcast absorbs the excess traffic by automatically spreading traffic to multiple CDN caches in the same metro. Comcast has over 100 separate caching locations in the U.S., and spreads its CDN traffic to multiple proximate physical locations in each major metro without a tradeoff in performance. These CDN locations are strategically deployed across the U.S., which (1) enables delivery in large metro areas and (2) more evenly spreads demand to prevent congestion that commonly impacts high throughput HD video and large file downloads. In addition, the Comcast network is well interconnected with many other networks. This enables high-quality content distribution, and allows content to be localized for distribution just as effectively."

https://www.comcasttechnologysolutions.com/blog/how-comcasts...

Dylan16807• 9 years ago

The CDN is a service they sell to content providers, to do part of the hosting for them. It's not part of their internet service.

AndyMcConachie• 9 years ago

For calling the FCC out on their lack of technical knowledge I find this quote rather lackluster from the EFF.

"Every machine translates IP addresses from machine-order to network-order;"

No. Network order is big-endian, and for big-endian architectures there is no translation that occurs.

Also, "As the FCC would have it, an Internet user actively expects their ISP to provide DNS to them."

Yeah, they do. Just because most users don't know what DNS is doesn't mean they don't expect it. They expect their Internet connection to work and part of that is DNS resolution. Come on EFF you can do better than this.

RandomInteger42• 9 years ago

Isn't that a rather pedantic swipe? How many machines do you know which are still big-endian?

DNS resolution is done by your operating system; just because ISPs provide DNS servers doesn't mean that's a service they're solely responsible for considering you can switch DNS servers at any time, with the exception of ISPs who wrongly prohibit such things. In many cases DNS resolution is sped up by changing DNS servers; weird that eh?

compsciphd• 9 years ago

If the FCC doesn't know how the internet works, why does the EFF want them regulating it?

The FCC Still Doesn’t Know How the Internet Works

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