[cookiecaper]

Your post is good and I upvoted, but I had to fight the instinct to downvote when you automatically assume those with the opposite POV are "shills", implying they are not sincere contributors. We need more people who are entertaining a moderated dialogue that acknowledge the value of the principles on both sides of the aisle, as your post does: a role for commerce and a role for reasonable regulation. However, calling the other sides "shills" in the first sentence makes many who may benefit immediately dismiss the comment.

I would suggest the best way to fix ISP competition is to make wireless ISPs faster/cheaper/better/more reliable. This obviates the "last mile" problem that makes competition in landline businesses so untenable.

[tyrrvk]

It was a bit of a knee jerk reaction - seeing so many posts flooding to the top that were "Pro Telco/Anti NN". I get angry when people say "regulation is bad - let market forces dictate." The point of my post was that 1. there are no market forces with these entrenched companies, and 2. they've already done everything they can to ensure their monopolies stand un-threatened. Therefore, their punishment is regulatory oversight. These companies (AT&T, Comcast etc) cannot have their cake and eat it too. Period. If there were 4-6 choices of ISP in each town/area then sure - drop the NN/Title2 regulation and let them race each other to the bottom, just like the airlines. But they are terrified of that, because that sort of competition is _hard_. Personally, I rank the well being of corporations well below individuals, towns, communities, the environment, space, etc. This might make me a weirdo, but I feel corporations have too much say in all aspects of our life.