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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill who wrote (839867)	3/1/2015 10:42:03 AM
From: combjelly	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572708

Hate to break it to you, but for the overwhelming number of users out there it isn't a free market. Ever since DSL became uncompetitive, the only real choice for broadband has been the cable company. Who often was granted a monopoly by the local municipality back when they only delivered TV service. Even if they don't have actual monopoly status the barriers to entry are such that they are a de facto monopoly. Now in some of the major metropolitan areas there might be more than one provider, here in parts of Garland for example, in most places that isn't the case. Which puts them firmly in the utility category. Given that some ISPs are famous for abusing their customer base, Comcast I am looking at you, it is about time. The straw that broke the camel's back is when companies like Comcast decided they get to pick the winners and losers of the content providers by holding their products hostage. Their de facto monopoly status gives them that power. And they are abusing it. It is hilarious that you mention the post office, though. The USPS is one of the most efficient and cheapest postal system in the world. If only our ISPs were the same. It isn't like they innovate, their technology is essentially the same as it was in the previous century.