WEBVTT - What is a Common Carrier? 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:10.680 Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from com 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:15.880 be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm Jonathan Strickland, 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:20.119 and today I'm doing a solo episode because it's about 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.239 some news that broke the day before I record this episode. 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.440 I'm recording on February fifth, two thousand, fifth Team. And 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:32.160 on February four, two fifteen, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:36.320 a statement outlining the Federal Communication Commission's plan to f 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:41.440 CC for reclassifying Internet service providers as common carriers here 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:43.920 in the United States. But you might wonder what that 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:46.920 actually means and why people are making a big deal 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.559 out of it. So I thought I would explain what 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.680 common carriers are in general, how have they applied to 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.840 the Internet or don't apply up till now anyway, and 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.240 how this might change things in the future, and also 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:02.880 just to clear up some misconceptions about the whole thing. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.120 So first, in the United States, the term common carrier 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.160 is a legal definition that means an individual, a company, 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.720 or a public utility like municipal buses, which is in 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:18.440 the regular business of transporting people and or freight. And 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:22.720 that's distinguished from a private carrier, which only transports occasionally 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:27.360 or as a one time only event, so it originally 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:31.280 referred to a physical conveyance of carrying people or cargo 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:34.479 from one place to another. In fact, in the United States, 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.000 this was first put into law in the Inner State 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:42.039 Commerce Act of eighteen seven, which regulated the railroads. Other 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.440 countries have had similar policies dating back hundreds of years. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.000 Some of them are formally put down into law. Some 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.400 are just simple traditions that have held over over the 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.480 course of time. But over time, the definition here in 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.040 the United States has expended to cover services that carry 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:01.080 more than uh these physical things. They can verry intangible 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.560 things like voice communication. Now, one of the most important 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.880 facets of common carriers is that they are not allowed 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:12.600 to discriminate against passengers or cargo. They're legally bound to 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.640 carry all of them as long as there's enough capacity. UH. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:18.920 They also have to have the fee to carry the 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.000 passenger or freight to be paid. I mean that that 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.360 has to happen too, so they don't do it for free. 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.520 UH and as long as there are no reasonable grounds 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.760 to deny entry. So in other words, let's have an example. 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.200 Let's say there's a city bus with plenty of seats available. 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:38.600 That bus would not be allowed under common carriage laws 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.519 to refuse service to a person who has bus fare 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.280 unless the bus driver had reasonable grounds to deny entry. 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:47.639 So let's say that the person who wants to get 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.000 on the bus is waving around a huge club and 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.080 singing Beach Boys songs at the top of his lungs. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.720 They probably wouldn't think that guy is safe to let 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:56.919 onto your bus. You might be able to argue those 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.799 are reasonable grounds to deny entry. However, assuming that that 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:05.239 person waiting for the bus has shows no reason why 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.520 you would deny him or her entry, you have to 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.680 let that person on by the rules of common carriage. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.520 Another important element is that common carriers are expected to 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:19.240 charge what is called a reasonable price, sometimes a just 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.200 and reasonable price for their services. So this really means 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.880 a common carrier can't charge one person more than another 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:30.680 person for no good reason. Now, there aren't good reasons 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.520 to charge different amounts in specific examples. So let's say 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.360 you are a free company, for example, and you're hired 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:42.440 to transport hazardous materials. That could justify a higher transportation 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.920 fee for that particular job because it comes with greater 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.880 risk than what it would normally be for you know, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.280 regular cargo. So there are exceptions, but otherwise you couldn't 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.960 say I'm going to charge everyone in this town one 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.280 price to ride on my train, but everyone in southern 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.480 town has to pay this other price only because I 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.400 hate that town, so that town has everyone there has 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.200 to pay me more as I don't want them on 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:13.720 my train. Otherwise that would not be allowed, so let's 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:18.680 move ahead. In nineteen ten, that seven Act was modified 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:23.320 so that it also covered telegraph and the burgeoning telephone companies. 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.240 One of the issues customers faced in those early days 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.039 was a lack of assurance that their telegraph messages would 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:33.360 actually get through to their intended destinations. So some companies 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:37.200 were charging extra fees to ensure that the message would 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.600 be repeated all the way down to the end of 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.680 the line. Now, courts decided that that was an unfair practice. 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.800 That a customer has a reasonable expectation that a service 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.520 provider will actually provide the service that was paid for, 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.839 and should the customers shouldn't be charged extra just to 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.839 be certain of it. Moreover, it should be on service 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.640 providers to prove they are doing their job, rather than 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:05.440 the burden being on customers to prove that the providers 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:09.120 are falling short because the providers are privy to all 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.080 the information, so they should be the ones who had 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.440 the responsibility to prove that they're doing what they say 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.719 they're doing. And another issue was the fact that the 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:20.680 telephone system in the United States was effectively a monopoly. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.960 Bell Telephone, which became a T and T in eight five, 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.480 got a headstart on other companies and laid on infrastructure 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.280 that only worked with the phones made by Western Electric. 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.320 So you had this partnership between Bell Telephone and Western Electric, 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.679 which effectively meant they were the only players in town. 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:42.480 If you were an independent uh telephone service company, your 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.120 phones would not work on the Bell Telephone infrastructure, so 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.799 that edged out competitors. And in nineteen thirteen Bell Telephone 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:52.080 in the US Justice Department worked out a deal to 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:56.159 limit Bell from scooping up independent competing companies and from 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.520 preventing other competitors from using Bell's long distance lines. They 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.120 were allowed to use Bells network. This was in response 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.160 to an antitrust lawsuit that was being brought against Bell Telephone, 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.360 and in order to head it off, Bell Telephone said, 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.160 you know what, We're going to change these policies we've 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.680 had so that you don't sue us, and it worked, 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:16.880 and the value of the service was considered to be 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:20.800 too important to allow unregulated control of it. So that's 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:25.000 where we started seeing some regulation enter into the telephone industry. Now, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.320 there's a series of tech Stuff podcasts about the history 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.479 of A T and T in which Lauren Voege, Obama 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:32.400 and I explored how A T and T came about 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.719 and how it was split up more than once due 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.720 to concerns like these. So if you are interested in that, 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.760 you should go check out those episodes. Now, getting back 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:47.640 to the telephone industry as a whole, in Congress past 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:52.039 the Communications Act, which created the Federal Communications Commission, which 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.520 oversaw radio transmissions as well as telecommunications. So this is 0:06:56.560 --> 0:07:01.000 what established the Title two that the FCC refers to 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:03.000 today when it comes to I s p s. They 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.440 talked about reclassifying I s p s under Title two. 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.760 This is the Act that classified telephone systems as common carriers. 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:15.000 It's been amended several times over the following decades, including 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.000 extensive alterations that were made during the Telecommunications Act of 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:23.440 nine six. So let's move on to transmitting computer data. 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:27.120 Over networks in nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties, before most 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.440 people knew about a network of networks. You know, our 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.920 bonnet was a thing. Internet was becoming a thing, but 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.520 most people didn't know about it. The common way to 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.360 connect to a computer was to use a modem for 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.800 direct machine to machine connection over the telephone system. So 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.440 you would have a dial up modem and you would 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.400 use it to dial a phone number. The computer on 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.960 the other end would essentially answer the phone, and then 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.080 you would have computer to computer communication. But it wasn't 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.880 an Internet, right, It wasn't a network of networks. It 0:07:55.960 --> 0:08:00.600 was the machine to machine communication. Regular computer data was 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.960 considered a transmission service and fell under Title two, which 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:11.000 meant that any any transmission service cannot be prioritized, it 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.720 can't be discriminated against it, ow has to be treated equally. 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.440 But there were specific services companies provided in which you 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:20.920 could connect to a computer to get a get particular 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:24.720 information like a weather report or stock information or sports scores, 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.520 things like that. These were considered to be enhanced services, 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.640 so this was classified under Title one of the Communications Act, 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.920 which is unregulated. So the transmission was regulated, but these 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.880 specific services were unregulated. The enhanced services didn't fall under 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.080 common carriage terms. Companies could charge a fee for customers 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:45.880 to use them. That would be on top of any 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:49.319 phone bill for use of the transmission lines themselves. Okay, 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.840 so let's say a phone company offers up its own 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:57.240 enhanced service and some other company offers a competing enhanced service. 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.760 The transmission of data falls under common carriage, which means 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:04.760 that phone company could not prevent customers from accessing the 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.040 competitors enhanced service. That would be unfair. So this is 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:13.320 the beginning of the concept of net neutrality. The six 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:20.080 Telecommunications Act redefined enhanced services as information services and also 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:24.400 ratify the differences between transmission services information services, putting into 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:26.880 policy what the FCC had sort of made up as 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.360 it went along. So the transmission of services met the 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.760 terms of common carriage. The telephone company treated all dial 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.000 up services the same, all had equal access under the system. 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:41.480 The actual services, the apps that people were accessing, those 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:55.520 were enhanced or information services. That's not confusing enough. Let's 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.280 move into the early era of broadband. This is when 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.600 we start seeing dial up modems fade away and DSL 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.959 began to arrive. Now the FCC continued to apply that 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.200 distinctions made during the telephone era. The phone companies would 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:12.040 have to carry DSL signals as common carriage, they couldn't 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:15.800 discriminate against them. The apps are services running on the 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:20.880 DSL connections were unregulated information services. And then we get 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.800 to two thousand two. Now, this is when cable TV 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:28.560 companies began offering transmission services of Internet data at high speeds, 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.480 at least relative to dial up speeds at any rate. 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.360 And this is where things get muddy. See the FCC 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:40.040 classified cable broadband service under Title one, not titled two. 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.880 That means both the transmission of data over cable and 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:48.000 the information services provided would be unregulated. There will be 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.160 no reason for regulation there because it's all under Title one. 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:55.720 So why not treat cable transmission of data the same 0:10:55.800 --> 0:11:00.439 way as the telephone system? Largely comes down to politics. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.520 At this time, Republicans had a majority in government and 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:07.840 they favored deregulation. And the reasons for favoring deregulation was 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.280 that they thought it was going to promote risk taking 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.199 and competition and innovation. The in reality that's not necessarily 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:15.400 the case. I mean, if you look at the bell 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:20.439 telephone system story that kind of shows what happens with deregulation, 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.880 and it required the government to actually come in and 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:28.400 intervene in order to avoid a monopoly that could completely 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:32.800 take advantage of customers. On two thousand five, the FCC 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.960 said that DSL would also be reclassified under Title one. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.560 So this makes the the whole situation even more complicated. 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.199 Telephone systems are still titled too, but DSL and cable 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:46.840 are now Title one and are unregulated. Now this meant 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.599 that cable and DSL companies wouldn't have to ask permission 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.840 to incorporate fast lanes for the Internet, so they could 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:57.200 give preferential treatment to some customers over others for a fee. 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.480 And because Title one is unregulated, there also no fear 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.280 of the FCC butting in should a cable or DSL 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.760 company block data they didn't want to carry, such as 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:11.480 data from a competitor or from torrent sites. So, you know, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.320 we talked earlier about the common carriers. You know, one 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.040 of the defining factors is that they cannot refuse service 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:20.920 as long as a person is able to pay the fee. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.640 If it's a Title one, it's not a common carrier, 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:28.280 and so it can deny service. So if you own 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:34.359 the transmission lines and you have a content provider like YouTube, 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.959 and you think I've got my own content provider program 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.480 where people users can upload video, and I don't want 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:44.800 to I don't want to compete against YouTube because YouTube 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.920 is gonna is gonna make my tool obsolete. I'm just 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.600 not gonna allow YouTube to go across my transmission lines. Technically, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:55.040 you could do that under Title one, because there's no 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.199 you're not a common carrier. You're not You're not obligated 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.080 to carry all legal information. Beyond that, there was no 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.360 requirement for cable companies to provide services for a quote 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.920 just and reasonable fee end quote. They could charge whatever 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.040 they wanted. So in two thousand and eight things came 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.520 to a head. The FCC find Comcast because Comcast had 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:21.240 blocked peer to peer traffic through bit torrent. Now, first 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.719 we have to keep in mind there's nothing inherently illegal 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:28.320 or immoral or unethical about bit torrent. There's nothing wrong 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.840 with the technology. It's a method of data transmission that 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.200 works well for large files. Peer to peer is great 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.480 if you're trying to move a huge amount of information 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.720 in a relatively short amount of time. Now, some of 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.520 those files were pired in material, they were illegal files, 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.200 and there were plenty of huge files that were legal. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.840 They should have been able to transmit freely. But because 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.000 bit torrent was being seen as the pirate tool, Comcast 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.520 blocked it. So the FCC gets involved and the FEC 0:13:57.640 --> 0:13:59.880 says to Comcast, hey, you can't do that. You can't 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:03.120 just block this stuff just because you don't like some 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.240 of the activity that's going on over there, and Comcast 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.520 responds with, sure we can. We're not common carriers were 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.040 classified under Title one, not Title two, And the FCC 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.320 says uh, and it goes to court and the courts 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.760 end up agreeing ultimately with Comcast. The FCC doesn't have 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:25.320 the authority to regulate cable companies because they're classified as 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:29.480 Title one not Titled two. So that's why there's now 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:32.200 this move to reclassify I s p s under Title 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.760 two instead of Title one. So the argument for reclassification 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.760 is that it will require I s p s to 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.440 play fairly with content providers and with customers. The companies 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:43.600 will have to adhere to the rules of Title two 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.960 and will come under the regulation of the f c C. 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.720 So a company like Comcast, which isn't just a transmission 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:53.360 service provider but is also a content provider, can't favor 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:57.880 its own services at the expense of others. However, even 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.600 in this proposal, FCC chair Men Wheeler has suggested that 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.320 the FCC would forbear or waive certain elements of Title 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.800 too not directly associated with net neutrality, which includes the 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.920 requirement to share networks and on rate regulations. So while 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.880 cable companies wouldn't be able to block legal content or 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.400 prioritize traffic for sites for a price, they could totally 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:24.120 continue to charge customers whatever they like for their services. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.200 So some people object to reclassifying I s p s 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:31.760 as titled too like the cable companies, They really object 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.680 to it now. They say that if the cable companies 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.240 are re or I s p s or reclassified as 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.520 titled to the Internet will become heavily regulated uh and 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.960 innovation will be stifled. But the flip side of this 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.720 is that it will be a fair playing ground. So 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:52.840 if we had access to lots of competitors in the 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:56.440 I s P space for service, I wouldn't be really 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:01.600 concerned about deregulation because we could always switch providers if 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:03.480 we didn't like the service, if we felt they were 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.520 being unfair, we could look to a competitor, and in fact, 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:10.480 that competition could drive everyone to being as fair as 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:14.360 possible so that they didn't run off their customers. But 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.360 the truth of the matter is that many people, including myself, 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.040 have very limited choices when it comes to I s 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.440 p s. In some cases, there's no choice at all. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.560 You have one option. You either go with this company 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.200 or you don't have internet. And that's a problem with 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.760 dealing with an effective monopoly. The consumer loses out. And 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.320 the keyble industry claims that this regulation is going to 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:40.600 discourage those companies from investing in infrastructure because it will 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.480 hurt revenue to have regulation. They said that if the 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.360 government determines how much money we're able to make, then 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:49.760 there's no reason for us to try and innovate and 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:54.160 build out our infrastructures. On the other hand, it encourages 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.480 new players in the space like Google. Fiber, which is 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.160 investing huge amounts to bring broadbands leads two households in 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.760 certain markets, So if the cable companies wish to keep 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:08.440 their customers, they'll have to compete with the newcomers, which 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:12.239 means that it does encourage investment in infrastructure, it just 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:16.280 means lower profits. That's really what these big companies are 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:21.600 afraid of. So they either continue to compete by building 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:25.200 out this infrastructure, or they get out of the game entirely, 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.600 which I don't think is a likely outcome. Now. As 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:32.040 for excessive regulation, I don't anticipate that being a huge problem. 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.800 I think we're more likely to see the FCC watching 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.600 to make sure cable companies follow the rules under Title two, 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:42.440 should that reclassification actually happen, which isn't a sure thing yet. 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:44.800 I mean, we're gonna see a lot of resistance from 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.480 those I s p S. But I'm curious to hear 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:50.960 what you guys think of this issue. Do you agree 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:52.679 with this? Do you think that this is going to 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.439 lead to true net neutrality? Are you upset that the 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:00.240 FCC is willing to forbear certain elements of Title too 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.600 in order to play Kate I s p S. Do 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.360 you think the whole thing should apply? Do you think 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:06.680 the whole thing is outdated because it was originally meant 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.120 for railroads and now we're applying it to the Internet. 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.240 I want to know what you think I personally am 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.800 really looking forward to seeing that neutrality become a codified 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:22.159 thing in US law. I think it's well overdue, but 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.480 I want to know what you think as well. Write 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.240 me My address is tech stuff at how stuff works 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.880 dot com, or drop me a line on Twitter, Facebook 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:31.800 or Tumbler. The handle it all three is text le 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:38.199 hs W and I'll talk to you again. Really for 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.600 more on this and bathands of other topics. Because it 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:51.560 has to works dot com