Net Neutrality is Communism Applied to the Internet
The supporters of net neutrality have tried to portray their opposition as being simply big greedy telecoms who want to squeeze more profit from consumers. This is a lie which doesn’t make any sense.
First, most people in business, outside of the media, are against net neutrality. It’s not just the big telecoms. Why? Because it is anti-capitalistic. I have twenty-five years of cost accounting experience which cuts across many industries, both retail and manufacturing. One principle which I’ve found applies to all business is this: everyone tries to match their costs with that which drives those costs.
In the business world, it is crucial to know who or what is driving your costs. That is because you need to make sure that you are getting enough revenue to offset them. Businesses don’t do anything for free. If they need to spend extra money for maintenance or safety inspections then they need to add that to their price. This is something that all businesses do. Big or small. There is nothing inherently “greedy” about matching your revenue with your costs.
A false argument that supporters of net neutrality seem to parrot without thinking is that the internet is like electricity. They say that the electric providers don’t care what anyone does with electricity and that everyone pays the same rate. But that isn’t true. Check out this article by CNET regarding how New York is trying to get a handle on cryptocurrency miners by raising their rates:
Power companies in New York can charge cryptocurrency companies in the state higher electricity rates, the New York State Public Service Commission ruled Thursday.
"The ruling was needed to level the playing field and prevent local electricity prices for existing residential and business customers from skyrocketing due to the soaring local demand for electricity," the commission said in a statement. The website Utility Dive reported on the ruling. —Ashlee Clark-Thompson, CNET
It isn’t uncommon when you have a limited resource and a few exceptionally large consumers to try to match your development costs to the people who are driving your need to expand. If the electric grid is getting sudden spikes in demand from a relatively few cryptocurrency miners, why should everyone have to pay for the cryptominers? Raising rates on the miners does two good things simultaneously. It helps to lower peak demand, and it also funds investment in new capacity.
California had the same problem with their water supply and almond farmers a couple of years ago. Almond farmers had a grandfather clause which exempted them from any state restrictions on water usage. While everyone else suffered water rationing, they were pumping it from the ground like there was no tomorrow. California wanted to charge almond farmers an extra fee for their outsized demand on the state water supply. This would have both lessened the demand on the water supply and given California more funds to deal with their water crisis.
These situations are very reminiscent of what’s going on with broadband availability. Over half of all broadband is consumed by two very large companies, Netflix and YouTube. Telecoms are simply asking for the same freedom that every other industry has in matching their revenues to their cost drivers.
Net neutrality is communism applied to the internet, and it’ll bring about the same results as communism. Mediocrity for the masses in equal measure. Anyone familiar with the realities of actually running a business is able to see through the net neutrality propaganda.
Now available in iBooks —> The Tesla Bubble
In the business world, it is crucial to know who or what is driving your costs. That is because you need to make sure that you are getting enough revenue to offset them. Businesses don’t do anything for free. If they need to spend extra money for maintenance or safety inspections then they need to add that to their price. This is something that all businesses do. Big or small. There is nothing inherently “greedy” about matching your revenue with your costs.
A false argument that supporters of net neutrality seem to parrot without thinking is that the internet is like electricity. They say that the electric providers don’t care what anyone does with electricity and that everyone pays the same rate. But that isn’t true. Check out this article by CNET regarding how New York is trying to get a handle on cryptocurrency miners by raising their rates:
Power companies in New York can charge cryptocurrency companies in the state higher electricity rates, the New York State Public Service Commission ruled Thursday.
"The ruling was needed to level the playing field and prevent local electricity prices for existing residential and business customers from skyrocketing due to the soaring local demand for electricity," the commission said in a statement. The website Utility Dive reported on the ruling. —Ashlee Clark-Thompson, CNET
It isn’t uncommon when you have a limited resource and a few exceptionally large consumers to try to match your development costs to the people who are driving your need to expand. If the electric grid is getting sudden spikes in demand from a relatively few cryptocurrency miners, why should everyone have to pay for the cryptominers? Raising rates on the miners does two good things simultaneously. It helps to lower peak demand, and it also funds investment in new capacity.
California had the same problem with their water supply and almond farmers a couple of years ago. Almond farmers had a grandfather clause which exempted them from any state restrictions on water usage. While everyone else suffered water rationing, they were pumping it from the ground like there was no tomorrow. California wanted to charge almond farmers an extra fee for their outsized demand on the state water supply. This would have both lessened the demand on the water supply and given California more funds to deal with their water crisis.
These situations are very reminiscent of what’s going on with broadband availability. Over half of all broadband is consumed by two very large companies, Netflix and YouTube. Telecoms are simply asking for the same freedom that every other industry has in matching their revenues to their cost drivers.
Net neutrality is communism applied to the internet, and it’ll bring about the same results as communism. Mediocrity for the masses in equal measure. Anyone familiar with the realities of actually running a business is able to see through the net neutrality propaganda.
Now available in iBooks —> The Tesla Bubble
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