(h/t +Koushik Dutta)
Reshared post from +Bruno Oliveira
Did you know that Taxi Cab companies are trying to end Taxi Neutrality? They are saying that restaurants and bars are freeloaders profiting on their infrastructure, and they plan to drive customers to restaurants at 5mph unless that particular restaurant purchases a high speed customer transportation service from them. And that's in addition to the normal cab fare you already pay.
In addition, straw manufacturers are trying to end Straw Neutrality, arguing that juice bars are freeloading on their product, and want juice bars to pay them for a premium beverage suction plan for transporting lemonade from the glass to the customer's mouth.
Airlines also want to end air travel neutrality, arguing that touristic destinations and hotels are freeloading on their routes, and want hotels and vacation destinations to pay them to fly customers there. And that's in addition to the air fare you already pay, of course.
Do any of those sound absurd? Well, that's because they are all totally made up. I just invented them. But something very similar is happening on the Internet, and this one is true: internet providers are trying to end Net Neutrality using the exact same logic: web services will have to pay them to be able to provide a service to you. And that's in addition to the normal price you already pay for internet access.
Metaphor fail.
This would be it if a few businesses were using lots of road space, and flooding th transportation system with its customers/employees/deliveries, slowing up the general speed of traffic across the town.
Or you could just invest in better internet cabling.
@LH – But it’s not the businesses using the road space, but the customers of those businesses. Who are, in turn, already paying for that access. As are, for that matter, those businesses [they already pay a fee for their connections into the Internet, which fee is certainly based on data volume].
In other words, I already pay for the access to that 5Gb movie I’m streaming from Netflix (and if I watch to many of them, I’ll pay more when I go over my plan’s data cap). Similarly, Netflix has also already paid for sending out that 5Gb movie. Comcast is saying to Netflix, “Hey, pay us more if you don’t want to have crappier service than your competitors.” It’s a shakedown racket.
I think some hotels/casinos do actually subsidize airfare, though it's a voluntary thing that actually lowers the fare.
SO you need to widen the roads. What the argument is over is who pays.