Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/06/bernie-sanders-has-a-high-s.html
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It would be an excellent first step, but the state laws prohibiting municipal broadband in nearly half the country need to be repealed as well.
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I’ve noticed that most private companies encourage people to use their product, while most public utilities encourage people to restrict consumption.
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Legislation, FCC rule, or since they seem to be in fashion just plain Presidential executive order, in roughly that order.
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We’ve given out way more than 150 billion in incentives to ISPs to get real high speed internet to every home in the country. They handed the money out to C levels and shareholders and did fuck-all to improve our infrastructure. I have access to 1 broadband provider that isn’t satellite based and it’s more expensive than it was 15 years ago.
We’ve got datacaps, bandwidth throttling and the definition of the terms “broadband”, “4G” and “5G” getting watered down while the companies that provide the services divide into regional monopolies. Without choice, they don’t need to encourage consumption, they just need to keep people from being so angry that they get regulated to oblivion. In that regard, they are failing.
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Bernie for President. Oh, Bernie beat me to it…
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But only because things tend to become public utilities when there is a limited supply, and careful and equitable distribution is needed (and the nature of the offering tends toward monopolies, and no longer gain advantage from market competition) Private internet companies encourage you to buy as much as they can sell you, and lie about the quality and quantity and limitations of the offering. Utilities are just better about being honest about their supply.
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Eliminating the laws that protect cable duopolies and new ones that require resale of infrastructure sharing at fair prices would be as good or better than new investments.
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Can we wait a bit and see if space based internet providers make a difference? It’s particularly suited to rural areas since customer density is lower and no fix lines need to be installed. And it can put the hurt on existing big ISPs.
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Spoiler alert: they won’t.
We’ve waited WAY long enough for this to get fixed. I’m not waiting for yet another “disruptive” venture capitalist to try and find a way to pay workers less for shittier service while driving the existing shitty services out of business. This is the uber of broadband, and right now it’s nothing more than vaporware anyway.
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Given AT&T owns CNN, will CNN show this plan from Bernie?
CNN: “Who?”
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I think you’re a little behind the times. Or a little jaded by past ventures. But The first portion of Starlink constellation is up and running With damned good performance compared to DSL and traditional Satellite links . Only fiber really beats it. Google and Bezos are planning the same thing The legislation is already in place. It won’t be long at all.
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socialism means even the rural poor get HD pr0n
At least until the asteroid hits.
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More importantly, they can access things like job applications or job boards, government services, education resources, banking resources, health care, etc. I think people really underestimate how much of our social and economic infrastructure have gone online and how having internet access is becoming critical to any number of basic tasks that one needs to do to live in a modern society…
But sure… they can get porn too… 
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I don’t underestimate it all. It’s up there with water and electricity.
I was just being cheeky because we all know how much internet traffic is actually prawn.
Enjoy it. Until the asteroid hits.
Um… okay.
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Even if this were literally the extent of the impact, I would still be okay with it. $150 billion on porn is $150 billion the government can’t spend on bombing hospitals and schools.
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