Re: FCC (was this once an Audi group?)

[Huw Powell <human@nh.ultranet.com>]

-- [ From: Huw Powell * EMC.Ver #3.1a ] --

>Its typical for a governmental agency to "seek more revenue" from a venue
that is extensively growing by leaps and bounds!  Why Uncle Sam needs his
share of the pie too!  With all those millions of dollars expected to be
earned this year, plus a 93% growth for next year, its no wonder the FCC
wants in!  After all, aren't they the ones whom invented the internet! 

I think you misunderstand?  The problem is that there aren't enough wires
for everyone to be on the phone at once.  EG my ISP doesn't have as many
modems as they do customers, the phone company doesn't have as many trunk
lines as local lines (so if every one in my town tries to use the phone at
the same time, they can't.  It's like trying to call NYC on Friday afternoon
on a cheap long distance provider)

When you rent a local phone line, the local company assumes a certain
percentage of usage time, for instance I am probably on my personal phone
line an average of 15 minutes a day.  
(BTW this is one reason business lines cost 3-4 times as much as residence
lines.  The other is that businesses subsidize residential telephone costs.)
 My ISP, however, probably uses its local lines many hours a day, every day.
 In the case of AOL recently, maybe 24 hours a day!  So there is a need to
relate the costs of infrastructure usage to types of usage.  

The FCC is in charge of moderating these debates between various for profit
corporations, all who(m?) seek to maximize their share of the revenue and
minimize their costs.  The ISP's are costing the local phone companies a lot
of money, by using a system designed to meet a different need.  Who else but
the government can intervene and regulate this and keep it fair?  Private
arbitrators?  Maybe.  The free market?  Maybe.  Let's hope so.

With all the luck in the world, these costs will be distributed fairly.  If
one spends six hours a day logged on to the internet, and it is "free", who
really pays?  One can't just scream "unfair", we need to figure out who
should be paying what for the incredible increase in use of this system by
"unintended" users (that's us!).  

Hopefully my $20 a month will continue to be enough to feed the hungry
corporations their minimum daily requirement of red meat.

Huw Powell
HUMAN Speakers

Nine-tenths of of the activities of a modern government are harmful;
therefore the worse they are performed, the better.

Bertrand Russell

http://www.thebook.com/human-speakers