On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:53:17 -0600, somebody wrote:

> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
> news:49f12814$1@news.povray.org...
>> On Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:08:01 -0600, somebody wrote:
> 
>> > Still cuts down on bandwidth, since popular content = high bandwidth
>> > usage. Why should strict www users subsidize p2p traffic?
> 
>> Why not go to the next step, then - why should anyone subsidize anyone
>> else's traffic?  Pay by the byte.  Why should I subsidize my neighbors'
>> use of Netflix on demand?  I don't use it, and I don't benefit from it.
>>
>> </sarcasm>
> 
>> > to do so. Just like the customer can select *any* ISP (or none, as
>> > the case may be).
> 
>> In many localities, the customer *can't* select *any* ISP.
> 
> Granted, I did not mean that, say, a Germany resident can chose an
> Argentinian ISP. I meant one can chose any ISP available in his/her
> region.

Now I *know* you know that's not what I meant.  I've explained before - 
if you want cable-like speeds, in most markets there is a single choice.  
I can't get anything but Comcast if I want 10 Mbps without paying for a 
dedicated line.  So my choice is to live with Comcast's draconian TOS or 
to use DSL - which gives me a whole 3 Mbps currently.

>> I have
>> friends who live in very rural areas who have one option and one option
>> only.  They either pay whatever the provider charges and live with the
>> TOC or they go without.
> 
> That's true of many things. In very rural areas, there is also a reduced
> selection of, say, supermarkets. I'm not sure if that's a good argument
> for legislating that the existing supermarket carries all goods or
> brands. Before the analogy police arrives, the point is that it's not a
> good idea to limit what types of services private enterprise can offer
> based on individuals with special circumstances. One can, to an extent,
> expect that governments provide basic necessities to very rural areas
> (within reason, even for government), but ISPs are private enterprises.
> Sometimes, even though you can select any color, the only available one
> will be black. Such is life.

You seem to be missing my point.

Jim

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