Your ISP May Prevent You From Getting Free Internet Access

[Diddy_Mao]

There are a lot of issues to be considered here.

Not the least of which is how much access do you want your state and federal government to have regarding your online activity?

 

[rob_simple]

The headline was a bit sensationalist, given the actual content of the article, but the first thing that struck me is a lot of people are probably going to need that free internet, because after the major ISP's profits take a hit the low-level workers will be the first ones to get axed.

 

[Strazdas]

well, considering US ISPs are still living in 90s, this is something i woudl very much endorse. even though this would mean people with massive pings.

WEll, move to Lithuania, you get 300mbps line (yes thats 300, i did not mistype) for as little as 60 LTL, which is around 25 dollars a month. unlimited bandwith. no port blocking or any of that crap. any ISP that tried that have died out or made it so you never notice (we got a GREAT isp that has bandwitch limit, but the limit is so large that even people who constantly pirate stuff hardly reach it).

 

[Kirov Reporting]

US ISPs basically operate as monopolies--the big ones have gentlemen's agreements not to encroach on each other's territory, and new network buildout is unfeasible for upstarts--so the uncompetitive market allows them to charge much more for much less.

OT: Yeah, as others have pointed out, the source article isn't accurate.

Good lord, I wasn't aware of that - apologies, my ignorance really showed there I'm afraid. In that case, it sounds like you need what we have, 10 or 15 mainstream providers who constantly compete with each other to try and win customers. A 'F2P' access model sounds ill-advised as someone will still be controlling it, but what you have now sounds like as much of a nightmare as anything!