Transcript Slides
Non-Competition Agreements Between Internet Service Providers By Ben Fleshman Overview • • • • • What a non-competiton agreement is Why it's bad How they affect people/businesses Why there's no opposition What can be done. What is it? • Large internet service providers make agreements to avoid competition in most areas. • Swaths of land are negotiated as a provider's "turf". Why They're Bad • Companies work together to control their market. • No competition allows for higher prices/shoddy service. • ISPs often actively avoid offering cheaper options in an area. • If a consumer is unsatisfied, they have limited alternatives. How They Affect Users • No competitive pricing. • Often times there are no alternative providers in the area. • Company is apathetic to customer needs. • No competitive data rates available across providers. • Collect usage information via Deep Packet Inspection. How They Effect Businesses • Internet service providers can throttle data for businesses that rely on fast connections and charge them premium rates. • Can eliminate smaller competitors unable to pay these rates and create similar issues in other markets. Numbers From the FCC Other Abuse of Power • Verizon Wireless censors NARAL • AT&T censors Pear Jam • Comcast Throttles BitTorrent, eDonkey, and Gnutella Why They're Unopposed • Starting a company as an internet service provider is often very expensive. • Large ISPs have unlimited time, money, and lawyers. What can be Done • Net Neutrality would see that all data types are treated as equal value and prevent ISPs from throttling content. • New rules passed by the FCC are intended to prevent content from being blocked and do away with pay to play fast lanes for businesses that can afford them Questions? Sources • • • • • • • • http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/04/one-big-reason-we-lack-internetcompetition-starting-an-isp-is-really-hard/2/ http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/14/net-neutrality-fcc-what-is-it http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/02/economist-explains-7 http://www.pcworld.com/article/249137/what_is_deep_packet_inspection_.html http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/6/5686780/major-isps-accused-of-deliberatelythrottling-traffic http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/technology/net-neutrality-fcc-vote-internetutility.html?ref=topics https://www.aclu.org/feature/what-net-neutrality?redirect=net-neutrality https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140904/11454828417/fccs-tom-wheeler-admitsthere-isnt-really-broadband-competition.shtml