For some reason, John and I both decided to finally set up Netflix streaming on our TVs this week. All I have to say is that I understand why six of eight cable services posted their worst quarterly subscriber losses ever. It costs less than one premium channel to have unlimited streaming and two DVDs out, and it’s a better experience than any of the “On Demand” cable services I’ve used.
That’s why I’m expecting another push by cable providers to add usage caps and tiered plans to their Internet offerings in an effort to increase average subscriber revenue. After their recent shack job with Verizon, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google team up with Comcast to save our endangered cable operators.
Corner Stone
They’ll set it someway that the On Demand purchases you make don’t count against your bandwidth cap.
Or if they get their way they can charge more for the QoS for video, like a tollway.
jeffreyw
Fuck you, Hughes.net. That is all.
Corner Stone
I remember when I moved back into my house in 2009 after Hurricane Ike I called Comcast to get my cable set back up. I asked about HBO which I enjoy for the sports themed shows, especially boxing. The lady said it was like $21 per month before tax just for the HBO lineup. I told her that was crazy as I could get Netflix and all the movies I could watch for $15 (at the time). She immediately replied very cheerily, “Oooo, that’s what I have at my house! I love it!”
Needless to say, didn’t get any premium channels added.
aimai
We gave up on cable a long time ago, but also never switched to netflix. We just wait a year or two and watch any shows that are worth it on DVD borrowed from the library, or rented, or bought. However my parents have streaming Netflix now. I haven’t found the process to be that great (at least on the Cape) and the buffering/imaging is sometimes deficient. I have the same problem with Hulu. But yes, Cable is dead. Its weird that these guys can’t anticipate the obvious. When the buggy and the buggy whip went out it was fairly rapid and also unique in human history. But the delivery of information over lines and not lines has been so rapid that there’s been a major turnover every five/ten years at least. I don’t understand why the top players have been so slow to anticipate it? My own family has just passed that moment when we have as many computers in the house as we do people *including children*.
aimai
Corner Stone
@aimai: Before John Rogers hit it big with Leverage, he did quite a bit of ruminating on this inability to adapt on his KungFu Monkey blog. Especially during the writers strike.
Pretty interesting stuff for an industry outsider like myself. May be worth scrolling through his archives for anyone so inclined.
WereBear
Because it requires the ability to anticipate and invest and educate.
They are good at sitting on their duffs and charging more for the same thing each year.
So they’re screwed.
cleek
@aimai:
we have 2 people, 7 computers (though only 3 get steady use)
master c
We started streaming trough our wii, and then we got a new blu ray player. Netflix allows you to stream on 5 devices with but one account!
My kids are 11 and 12 and they find what they want and never see an advert. Watching TV is just different this way, you target what you want, and watch it. And there is more coming….pandora, hulu, coming in the fall…. the future is the netflix model! It works great for us.
The hardest part has been finding a TV antennae to pick up PBS etc.
We tried 3 before we got it right, and the picture is unreal once we got it!
What are the cable companies doing to their signals?
arguingwithsignposts
I have never had a problem with netflix streaming. Of course, I have DSL, not cable, so …
That said, I don’t own a television. Don’t miss it, and don’t miss the ridiculous cable fees. I’d also recommend Amazon Video on Demand for series/movies that aren’t on netflix or hulu.
FoxinSocks
I recently got rid of Comcast after I called to adjust my plan and the lady was so rude, she basically dared me to quit. So I did, because I’m like a five year old and if you doubledog dare me to do something, I will.
The thing is, I canceled service a month ago now and I still have cable. I’ve seen the cable guy out there, trying to disconnect me, but apparently he can’t figure out how, even with the instruction manual he was reading (they got rid of anyone vaguely qualified at Comcast it seems). I call every once in a while to remind them I still have service and they tell me I won’t be charged for anything and that no, really, they’re going to disconnect me. They better not charge me or I’ll raise hell.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@master c: And netflix just added the iPod/iPhone to what you can stream to.
dmsilev
It’ll also be interesting to see whether there’s any truth to the rumor that Apple is going to be releasing a new version of their set-top device along with cheap per-show streaming subscriptions (The rumor mill has been talking about numbers like $2 for a season of one show). If that’s even vaguely accurate and there’s a decent lineup of content available, the combination of that and Netflix for the slightly older stuff will have me on the phone to Comcast saying “you can have your box and wire back”.
dms
Robertdsc-iphone
Judging by the huge amount of red envelopes my fellow mail pushers & I send out every day, Netflixs Is a big deal for the company I work at.
Gina
A couple of years ago I found a good desktop Windows computer and hooked it up to our flat screen TV. Initially, the idea was to be able to run DH’s R/C helicopter sim program, but when I learned about Windows Media Center I hooked the basic analog cable to the TV tuner and use that as our DVR.
Our cable company charges over $80 per month for internet and broadcast basic cable, there’s no way in hell I’m adding anything else to the tab. I installed an antenna in the attic and manage to get all the major networks and PBS in HD. For the missing cable networks, Hulu has us covered.
I love Netflix streaming as well, but I keep having a bug in Windows Media Center where the aspect shifts from 16:9 back to 4:3, despite things being set correctly, so instead of the WMC interface I use the Roku box. LOVE THAT. Nice HD quality, and we can go directly to Amazon if we want to stream newer movies or TV on a pay-as-you-go plan.
Now if I could just get the freaking Harmony remote to get programmed correctly…
WereBear (itouch)
It’s the Next Wave; it’s the third one, the game changer.
It was free, but with commercials, and they decided when it showed up. Then it wasn’t free, but you could ditch the commercials and there were more things to watch.
Now, it’s bith when and the way you want it.
jwb
@FoxinSocks: We called and reduced our cable service five years ago and have been paying for only local service since then. The cable company never came out and reduced our service, so we continue to get the expanded service. Funny thing is that I rarely watch TV anymore, and I won’t be able to even watch sports much since I’ve decided to boycott all Fox products. So now I’m considering simply canceling my rock bottom basic cable because I have better things to do with that $20/month.
cleek
@Gina:
the Roku boxes are great.
but, we just got a new blu-ray player, and it can do everything the Roku box does (and does it a bit better, IMO). it seems that that most new blu-ray/DVD players can do this. so now i just use the blu-ray player to do the streaming and our poor Roku box just gathers dust.
jwb
@WereBear (itouch): Let’s hope. I’m not convinced. Actually, the media companies don’t much like the direction things are headed and they have all the access to power so this content freedom is unlikely to last. But I’m still curious to see just exactly how they are going to screw us over again.
E.D. Kain
Netflix is great. We gave up TV altogether several years ago – I think we use the streaming feature much more than the actual DVD feature, actually. And Hulu is also very good, though I haven’t tried its paid version.
Gina
@cleek: I see the Roku as the gateway drug to cut cable dependency – it’s so cheap, so easy, etc. I have a blu-ray in the computer that’s hooked to TV, so no extra player. I’d gotten the Roku back before we had a flat screen, but recently put it in the living room again since the issue with WMC came up.
I’m wondering if streaming Netflix will serve to boost the blu-ray market, instead of the other way around…
frosty
But how do I cancel my cable and use internet streaming for all this stuff when Comcast is my internet provider?
We don’t have DSL here. Any alternatives?
burnspbesq
Y’all aren’t a representative sample. Not enough people in the sample who watch a lot of sports. Sports is what the alternative providers can’t provide. Cable and DirecTV are the only viable options. Especially when your cable company is also your ISP and blocks access to espn3.com.
Time Warner sux. But DirecTV is no picnic.
beltane
We do just fine without cable. The internet provides all (for now), and the TV in the living room is pretty much limited to our four PBS channels and Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs.
ChrisS
Netflix is a great service, but you can guarantee where congress will eventually come down. Have to protect the cable companies.
The contortions these people are doing to protect an outdated distribution model is insane.
Ajay
I dont have cable and I had Netflix for a while. I ended up discontinuing Netflix as well as their selection for streaming videos is extremely limited. I can live with subpar quality but selection should be significantly more than what they have. Hulu is a good alternative at times.
asdf
Good point, burnspbesq.
Kelsey
My wife and I got rid of cable when we moved last month. It’s ridiculous how they charge more if you want HD channels. All televisions sold are HD, why can’t they give you the HD channels and charge more if you need the non-HD channels. My only problem with getting rid of cable is sports. I’ve gone through two different antennas and still can’t get ABC and FOX. Other than going to the bar, does anyone have any suggestions?
Villago Delenda Est
If these guys would be satisfied with modest profits that keep them in business and provide enough revenue to take care of all the people required to keep them in business, it wouldn’t be so bad.
But they have to grow (spectacularly) every quarter to satisfy the greedy Ferengi of the street.
The market really sucks when it turns on you, doesn’t it, guys?
Southern Beale
Another element of this comes to mind … our neighborhood streets are torn up right now as the phone company lays down new fiber optic cable … when AT&T and Bell and the rest get into the game things are going to be shaken up….
Villago Delenda Est
@ChrisS:
Not like we haven’t seen this before with the primordial asshats of the RIAA, now is it?
Violet
A couple of dumb questions from someone who is way behind in the technology department:
1. How do you get local channels? Subscribe to basic cable? Some form of antenna?
2. Can you make the setup work like a DVR? Where you can record something and watch it later? If so, how?
3. What about the “pause” feature on my cable where you can pause live TV? Can you do that? How?
meh
we dropped directv a year ago – figured that paying $1,200 a year ($100/mo) just wasn’t worth the 15 channels we watched with any frequency. Since then, went out and bought a high end multimedia desktop with a pimp video card so I stream netflix, hulu, and when we have to have live TV, we jack into the slingbox that I bought for $50 refurbed on Woot. If there is ever anything that I want to watch that I can’t find on those, off to btjunkie.org and piratebay I go. We now have 3 separate computers streaming media throughout the house – and with Windows 7 and shared libraries, it makes everyone happy.
meh
@Kelsey:
I watched the Super Bowl over on Justin.tv – people hook up live feeds which (depending on the event) can last anywhere from 15 mins through its entirety. The superbowl feed, as well as the UEFA cup final lasted about 15 mins each before the respective companies were able to serve Justin.tv with a cease and desist notice – but then someone else would pop another feed up.
cmorenc
I foresee the cable companies trying to push through congress & the regulatory agencies something as drastic as the digitial rights management act, except that this will have to do with giving the big communications companies drastically enforceable rights to control/restrict use of bandwidth, and the punitive legal rights to go after anyone who tries to defeat or circumvent their restrictions.
jwb
@Violet:
“1. How do you get local channels? Subscribe to basic cable? Some form of antenna?”
You can do either. Or, like me, you can give up local TV. The biggest downside is a distressing lack of live sports.
“2. Can you make the setup work like a DVR? Where you can record something and watch it later? If so, how?”
Don’t know since I don’t use a DVR. You could always rip your stream to a hard drive if you want to save something for later. But otherwise, most of these set-ups are “on demand,” so there is no real reason to DVR anything.
“3. What about the “pause” feature on my cable where you can pause live TV? Can you do that? How?”
Most of the streaming systems have pause buttons just like YouTube.
Max
I am planning on buying the Roku box, firing up my Netflix account again and canceling my premium channels on Comcast. The fiance and I never watch those channels and Comcast charges a fortune for them.
Glad to see all the positive experiences. I think I’ve been hesitant because in my mind, you get to a certain age and you have all the cable channels… unlike my parents and their basic cable only house. But, I need to realize that it’s about having options I use, not what I think I’m supposed to have.
jwb
@meh: Such extra-legal means are really not dependable. I think folks are looking for dependable ways of getting sports online.
Wodwose
I posted this as a response to someone here, but I see others have the same problem. With minimal DIY you can have a GREAT antenna.YouTube
meh
@jwb:
There isn’t really a way to get live sports online without a slingbox (other than buying cable of course). You can always buy the MLB.com online package for the games – if you feel like tossing $200 to those guys. But for live sports, the internet isn’t ideal place to catch games – I was offering a workaround since there really isn’t a concrete solution to that particular dilemma.
malraux
@Ajay: It gets larger all the time. Netflix is seriously committed to negotiating ever broader availability for its streaming.
Hiram Taine
@master c: What antenna did you use?
I have a friend who desperately needs a good antenna, they live in a fairly remote mountainous area, only get one channel on the TV and don’t have cable or internet.
befuggled
@meh: That’s how I took it: as a workaround. Last year, I used it and another site to watch certain college football games. Unfortunately, the Big Ten Network was playing whack-a-mole with both sites, so it was a real pain in the ass.
Leonard Stiltskin
@Ajay:
Netflix just signed a deal with Epix that seems to signal a change in how cable networks deal with the advent of streaming content. With Starz already on board, it’s only a matter of time until HBO and Showtime will have to reconsider partnering with Netflix.
meh
@befuggled:
QFT – that’s why I bought the slingbox. My office has about 20 tvs scattered throughout the location so I just hooked one up to an out of the way set and am good to go.
Jayackroyd
@frosty:
Try covad for dsl.
I’d been using covad dsl for quite a while, where I could actually get support when there was a problem. But verizon made an offer I thought I couldn’t refuse–a bundle of phone and dsl services that was half the price of my covad/vonage solution (I was still paying for basic verizon phone, because covad required the last mile to come from verizon).
But they promised to match the 3MB/768 performance of the covad line, and never did, delivering half that speed, claiming it was physically impossible to deliver 3MB.
So now I am on an RCN cable line 20MB/2MB that delivers about 14MB down close to 2MB up.
Still covad was reliable, and provided good support.
jwb
@meh: “There isn’t really a way to get live sports online…” Yes, sorry, that was my oblique point: if you have a strong interest in sports, you are probably not going to be happy with getting your TV off the internet.
Gina
@frosty: I have to use cable internet, but I just get the minimum cable TV service needed to get the broadband internet. Our area has no real choice at all, it’s a small local cable company, so as I mentioned before it’s a total of over $80 for the broadcast basic/broadband internet, the cheapest tier offered to get internet service.
In other areas, I’m guessing it’s probably cheaper.
arguingwithsignposts
@E.D. Kain:
Same here. I’ve had the same DVD (7 pounds) for over a year. Sending those envelopes back and forth is a PITA compared to clicking on a link to “Watch Now.”
arguingwithsignposts
@meh:
Sunday night games on NBC NFL were streaming last year. I suspect there will be more options soon. the espn3 world cup coverage was decent. If espn3 is blocked, that’s a problem with the dickheads in charge of your internet connection, not the internet itself as a delivery medium.
jwb
@arguingwithsignposts: My guess, however, is that we’re moving more to a model where the sports leagues change for a season package, which the cable provider might include as part of a premium package—much like what NBC did with the Olympics. I will be very much surprised if in two years any live sports are routinely streamed free on the web. I hope I’m wrong about that.
Gina
@Hiram Taine: I highly recommend the site Antenna Web for info on which antenna would work with your particular address. It looks at the location of your local station tower(s), and maps out signal strength, then recommends which level of antenna would most likely work. In my own personal experienc, YMMV, it recommended a much stronger system than what actually ended up working.
@Violet: I have a computer that’s hooked up to the tv in the living room. It’s a Windows operating system, originally Vista but now Windows 7, which has the program Windows Media Center included automatically. With WMC, you have DVR functionality, plus a free channel guide. In my case, since I have broadcast basic cable, plus the antenna HD local channels, I was able to customize the channel lineup in the guide (there’s a setup wizard for all that), and using the DVR is just like any other. You can search by name, keyword, or you can go to the guide and click to record something.
The local HD channels all have subchannels as well, so for example the local PBS has three other content streams that come through – one with cooking shows that I really like. Windows 7 Media Center has the subchannels listed in the guide, but Windows Vista does not.
I found my antenna at Solid Signal, very well priced and no problems with delivery, etc. The computer I’m using is an HP Media Center, m9177c, which has built-in tuner cards for HD and analog, and lots of outputs like HDMI, DVI, S-cable, etc. I found it at Retekdirect for around $600 delivered, but it was a couple of years ago – I’m thinking with some shopping around you’d find something similar but more updated for around the same price, ymmv. Easiest is to find a Windows box with a dual HD/Analog tuner card that’s already installed, and that comes with a WMC remote.
Incertus (Brian)
@E.D. Kain:
We still have a satellite, but we’ve been using the hell out of the streaming as well. We worry, though, that somewhere in the Netflix headquarters someone is laughing hilariously at us since we get art films and foreign films on disc and keep them for months, and then watch 4 episodes of Babylon 5 in a night.
amorphous
I’ve gone without TV at all since February, but I’m going to get cable this week. I just can’t go on without my Lee Corso and 45 hours of football on Saturdays, even if it is all SEC (speeeeeedzorz!) slurping.
@arguingwithsignposts:
Really? A pre-paid, pre-addressed, self-adhesive envelope is too much of a PITA to put in the mail once every few days? Even I’m not that lazy.
YellowJournalism
This is so weird, as the husband and I were talking about this very same subject last night as we rented VOD. We were bemoaning our lack of OnDemand with Telus after being spoiled with my parents’ cable service in the states. Hubby pointed out that the cable companies and, to some extent, the cell phone carriers are losing money like crazy.
We just got rid of a bunch of channels, including all the cable news stations (and I’ve never been saner), and we’re planning on losing a bunch more. We’ll only have basic, some time shifting, and the kids’ channels. We’ve never considered NetFlix, and Hulu won’t work up here without special workarounds, so I wonder if NetFlix streams through the Wii up here in Canada.
We record tons of shows for the boys, and I’ve been recording old movies like crazy before we get rid of TCM and a few other channels. I love the fact that we can watch these things when we want and have time for them, so NetFlix might be just the thing for us. Plus, I need to see Dexter seasons 3 and 4 at a time when little eyes and ears aren’t around.
arguingwithsignposts
@amorphous:
Yes. I am that lazy.
I pay all my bills online too.
On a related note, HBO and the other premium channels are also really bad about understanding that their model is getting undercut.
I’d pay a few bucks for streaming premium channels, but I can’t see paying $70/mo for all the shopping channels and crap just so I can get a couple of extra sports channels.
ETA: If cable would go a la carte, I might consider subscribing again at some point. But we all know they aren’t going down that road.
RareSanity
All of there “alternatives” being mentioned are exactly why net-neutrality must be enacted, in a law, not a regulation.
The fact that my cable company could affect the delivery of streaming media that competes with their video services. Or, a phone company could affect the delivery of a VoIP service that competes with their voice service, is not free-market, it’s “Goodfellas” market…”fuck you, pay me”…
There are people that would sincerely argue, against net-neutrality. However, those people probably lack the knowledge to fully comprehend the negative aspects.
It is the people that do have the knowledge and are just shills for ISPs, clueless politicians pandering for votes, or, shameless “pundits” pandering for viewers/listeners, that piss me off.
If, even small numbers of, either one of the last two groups (politicians or “pundits”) would simply explain the full negative impact, there wouldn’t even be a discussion about it.
…I can dream, can’t I?
arguingwithsignposts
@YellowJournalism:
if there is anything I hate worse than region restrictions on viewing, I can’t think of what it is.
Corner Stone
@RareSanity:
The commercial with Harold Ford as the Democrat, and Michael Powell as the Republican is the one I enjoy the most. They talk about bipartisan solutions and to just “Let The Free Market Work”.
aimai
@meh:
“… we jack into the slingbox that I bought for $50 refurbed on Woot…”
I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what any of those words mean, except “jack” and “we” and maybe “fifty dollars” but I love the way they sound when read quickly. I’m too old but it sounds like a found poem, to me.
aimai
Kirk Spencer
@aimai:
(without actual links, because too many links kick comments to moderation)
slingbox. A device that connects television feed to an existing internet network. In other words, plug your cable into one side and your network to the other side, and watch television anywhere you can access that network. Note this means you can (theoretically, I’ve never done it) set up your slingbox at home and then watch the shows anywhere in the world, provide you’ve got a broadband connection. see slingmedia.com
refurb. Short for refurbished. Used equipment that’s (allegedly) been cleaned, repaired, and made almost as good as new.
Woot. An online store that sells one product at a time, usually one time only, for 24 hours. Supplies are usually limited. Prices are usually good. Today, for example, they’re selling several brands of 10.1 inch netbooks (with 250 GB drives and Windows 7) for $199.99 plus $5 shipping. Items change at midnight Central time. see woot.com
AhabTRuler
@cleek: Yeah, but to be fair, you are a geek.
Full Disclosure: Computer:Human ratio is 2:4, but I do have a closet full of enough hardware to build out at least another 1.5 if I chose. Eh, I’ll just pretend that the extra two computers are for the cats.
jnfr
We have had a Roku box for nearly two years now and we love it beyond telling. Use it a lot. Last Christmas we used family gift money to get a PS3 and a nice but small Sony Bravia for games and Blu-ray, but we’ve ended up using that much more for streaming Netflix than for any other thing.
I’m not quite ready to give up True Blood and Bill Maher, so we pay out the wazoo to DirecTV also, but I really hope that changes some day. Currently our combined tv/Internet/phone bill is half what our car payment used to be. And the car’s paid off now, while the monthly connection bill stretches on forever…
IronyAbounds
Cable is fighting back. Comcast’s OnDemand service is being greatly increased to over 11,000 titles, albeit slowly. They have to fix the interface as well since trying to find anything with that many options with the current system would be impossible.
Sports is the great pull for cable. No way I’m going to give up live sports.
meh
@aimai:
Hehe – yeah Kirk summed it up pretty nicely. Downside on our slingbox, since we have it connected through a VCR at work that connects to a digital cable box, the signal is pretty poor – i.e. old vcr quality and it doesn’t scale well to a large 50″ tv. BUT, if you must have a live TV fix but don’t want to pay the premium prices for it, there ya go.
philly71
@cleek: I have two Samsung devices, ipod touch, and Roku, and Roku is the only one that allows you to search from your TV and add to your queue from the TV. It’s awesome.
If you get slowdown that bumps your quality (I noticed this at peak times when I was pinging 15mb down). I called netflix and they told me at peak times their servers get slammed so they have some growing pains right now from all of this popularity. Other than that, I hope most know that quality is tied to download speed.
Janet Strange
@Violet: I love my TiVo. It was a DVR (the original?) long before cable started using them. In part, I think to compete with TiVo. It does all the DVR things – records whatever you want (and will do two shows that are on at the same time), pause etc.
It also streams Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, VOD (whatever that is), YouTube and a buncha other stuff, is an easy way to show your photos and homemade videos on your TV. Music.
I’m sure there are all kinds of tech thingys that will do all of this, but the reason I still love my TiVo is that it is so damned easy to use, so intuitive and simple. Kind of the Apple/Macintosh of TV box techtoys. Excellent for non-geeks.
Shalimar
I already have usage caps because I have HughesNet, which basically allows 1 hour of downloading at full speed per day. I’m not sure why I have HughesNet, since I already knew they sucked and it defeats half the purpose of high-speed if you aren’t allowed to use it. But they were the only option other than dial-up where I live currently, and dial-up would have meant putting out $35 a month for a home phone I wouldn’t use for anything else, so HughesNet it is. Evil bastards.
jpe
We ditched cable a year ago, and just have streaming netflix. In nyc you can just hook up whatever cable cord is. Aroumd from the las tenant and get local channels and a few cable channels (like showtime 2; I have no idea why) for free. Oh, and they’re HD. Again, I have no idea why.
andy
If you have a Wii, XBox, or the like, check out http://www.playon.tv – you can then stream Hulu, Comedy Central, and a ton of other stuff to your television too. It also supports iPhone now, which is great (works best on Wifi, but not bad on 3G most of the time).
We use the Wii for PlayOn, but I hear the quality is better on the stronger game machines. You also need to have a decent PC running the PlayOn server so it can convert all the video on the fly and send it out to your devices.
Between Netflix, Roku, and PlayOn, we haven’t missed cable TV in the nearly 2 yrs since we ditched it.
Brachiator
@aimai:
It can be very expensive to guess wrong, or even to guess correctly.
A couple of tech shows I listen to were speculating on upcoming Apple announcements and the possible direction of new media. One person asked why, if you could have an app for HBO or even individual shows, should cable or networks still exist?
But for companies who have invested in laying cable or fiber optic or launching satellites, shifts in how stuff ultimately is delivered to consumers can have devastating consequences on their business plans.
Kered (formerly Derek)
@Shalimar:
Dear lord, what terrible place do you live in?
Shalimar
@Kered (formerly Derek): Alabama
maus
@Corner Stone:
I really would pay for HBO streaming, or at least to watch the shows I enjoy. I will absolutely not pay for any of the other drek i’d be subsidizing.
electricgrendel
I am of the opinion that there will come a time in the future where telecoms will have to choose between providing cable or internet. Cable is their cash cow and it is the service over which they have the greatest gatekeeper role. Therefore, it is patently a conflict of interest for a teleco to control the major competing medium. They are disincentivized to offer the broadband capacity we require in order to remain competitive because that increased capacity is a direct threat to their major source of revenue. Allowing the internet to be commercially controlled in the first place was a lack of vision that only America-after-Reagan could muster. Allowing this vital medium to be administered by corporations who have a direct, competing interest, however, was the fail cherry atop the fail sundae.
LiberalTarian
I love the internet … too much. It’s taking a big bite out of my life. But, but, but, I love it so …