Re:Net Neutrality: Toward a Stupid Internet
by dantheman on Tuesday April 06, 2010 @08:33PM
(#1246077)
I don't think they fail to see the distinction, but instead of further cementing government control they in fact argue that telcos should lose their government privileges and be left to compete in the market. Sure at first they will have significant advantages but as time goes on competition should be able to function.
Yeah, because if I have a problem with my ISP, I'll just head to the bank, borrow a few hundred billion and build my own backbone.
This is sort of funny, but despite receiving many more upvotes than its parent, it displays a startling lack of understanding of the capitalist system.
More likely than you borrowing a few "hundred billion," large, midsize, and even small corporations would invest a "few million" in a city or neighborhood somewhere and use the profits to continue investing in other profitable areas. They might even collaborate and start connecting entire cities together (oh look, a backbone). I find this a much more desirable outcome than a government-run or (the current) psuedo-government run scenario.
IMHO, regardless of what you think of Objectivism or libertarianism, the standard libertarian critique of government interference does not apply to net neutrality. It would apply if telecom were actually a free market and if telcos did not receive large amounts of state support.
Conservatives and most libertarians usually fail the see the distinction between actual private businesses that operate in a free market (e.g. Google, Apple, etc.) and state-backed quasi-private enterprises like telcos. The latter are aptly called "Soviet bureaus."