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Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient

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nutbastard
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Anyone else chuckling at the fact that we have an old, white Congressman named "Massa"?

"Massa! Massa! The ISPs done capped our 'loads! And we slave folks is fixin to uncap them loads hyah! Oh, pray, Massa!"
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nutbastard
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Save us, Government, save us! We don't like the terms of our voluntary contracts any more, please hold a gun to their heads! Never mind that bandwidth costs money, we want it and we want you to force them to give it to us on our behalf! Oh glorious Government, hallowed be thy name! For it is you, and only you, that can decide better than we what is best for us! It is you who litigates our problems away at others expense!
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

(Note: Advertising 'unlimited' but imposing limits should be dealt with under false advertisement laws; no new legislation is required.)
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dfwguy
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

Does this mean you are pro gun control?
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@dfwguy:

I'm Libertarian - I oppose any kind of regulation or restriction of firearms.

Yes, that does mean that I believe that The People have a God-given right to own hand grenades and AK-47's.
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

Even better, the congressman's name is "Massa".

"Massa! Massa! The ISPs done capped our 'loads! And we slave folks is fixin to uncap them loads hyah! Oh, pray, Massa!"
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gibson042
06/18/09

@nutbastard: The real irony here is that people's limited broadband choices are probably caused directly by municipal monopolies granted to their local cable and telephone providers.
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nutbastard
06/19/09

@gibson042:

Im all for removing government's power to play favorites.
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dfwguy
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
I know this is somewhat off topic, but I think AT&T has found another way to limit at least part of your downloads. Sometime around 7/15/09 they are eliminating access to usenet.
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@dfwguy:

...and then sometime around 7/16/09, a workaround will be hacked out and it'll be like nothing happened.
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DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
wait, what?! we are already being capped, this article is talking about making ISP's UNCAP. Your backwards comment makes my brain hurt
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DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

@@iqlusion: ahhh, stray comments. Maybe Giz should add some type of "Replying to:" field so you know it is actually going to reply to a comment thread and not end up afloat like the one above :-\
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Solaseria
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
For all of us- errr...those torrentors eating up bandwidth, would capping data volume put a damper on media pirating?
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DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

@Solaseria: uhhhhhh.... caps != filters
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GitEmSteveDave_ForgotNametag
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Wow, I really have no concept of what a data cap is thanks to FiOS, and if there was never a chance of it, more so the better.
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Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Yay in theory, but Booo-urns to the concept of letting the government determine whose needs are "justified," business or individual.
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dfwguy
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus:

So you would prefer to have someone you pay to change terms and limit your downloads?
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Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@dfwguy: Yes, and if I don't agree to the terms or the limits, than someone else earns my money.
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Dillinger23
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Great idea, except the fact that a lot of people have no choice. If i want Internet at my house, i get ATT DSL or i pay 500/MO for a T1, THOSE ARE MY OPTIONS.
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@Dillinger23:

oh stfu "i have no choice". you can choose to not have it. you won't die without it. you just WANT it.
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admoseremic
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
While I agree with what this bill is trying to do, I find the idea of additional government involvement in my life disgusting.
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pz
06/18/09

@admoseremic: Jesus, you people seem to be everywhere these days.

I guess you also don't like the military/police protecting you, the FDA making sure your food doesn't have excess amounts of feces in it, the EPA making sure your water is clean, or OSHA making sure you don't fall in a meat grinder either, eh?

Considering how a major corporation sees me (as just a line on a balance sheet somewhere), I bloody well WELCOME additional government involvement in my life.

If you don't like it, move to Somalia. Go ahead, move. I'll even buy your farking plane ticket.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@admoseremic: Meh. I have no preference between being oppressed by the government or by telecommunications cartels. Taking it in the ass is painful no matter who is on the other end.

Of course, this regulation, without price caps, leaves open the possibility of a "creative response". For instance, companies might just increase prices to compensate for having no caps or volume- based fees. Consumers could get screwed either way.
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Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: the same group of people determining what's fair about capping data usage is the same group of people that determine who is allowed to provide cable service to your region... so you're getting screwed by the same people either way.
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Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@mdmadph: Quick note: Never try and cite the EPA as an effective agency in an argument, your words will be drowned out by all the giggling.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Hmm. That's a good point. Furthermore, these same people who are screwing me are catering to the agenda of their campaign contributors, who are the people who would be screwing me in the alternative scenario. So, it looks like it's more of a "gang-screwing".
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rimshot515
06/18/09

@mdmadph: So that when the government does pass new regulations and taxes, the costs are passed on to you and those less economically fortunate than you?

Yeah, punish the poor! Hurrah!

FDA? EPA? Wow. Because, you know, they have fantastic track records and are so effective at what they do.

Yeah, more government involvement! Yeah, more recessions! Who doesn't love how banks and healthcare, some of the most regulated sectors of the economy, are doing!
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pz
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Oh, no -- they're not perfect, so they're useless?

Just try and imagine a world WITHOUT them. I dare you.

I hope you like drinking sewer water.
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pz
06/18/09

@rimshot515: Costs passed on to the poor? In what century?

You see, there's these things called "progressive taxes" -- oh, it's not like you're listening, anyway.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@rimshot515: Interestingly, people are blaming the recession on a lack of regulation in the financial industry (though I suppose who to blame doesn't really matter at this point). It's an interesting problem - regulation causes economic distortions, but on the other hand, the population is collectively stupid, resulting in us causing bubbles that burst and erase years of growth. We need some degree of economic regulation - it's just really difficult to determine how much, and how it should be applied correctly.
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Voyou_Charmant
06/18/09

@admoseremic: I'm so sick of people and their poorly thought out concerns.

This isn't additional government involvement in your life.

@rimshot515:

FDA = Underfunded, understaffed, chronyism and admin appointees that are industry insiders and have an agenda contrary to its purpose.

EPA = Again; underfunded, understaffed, chronyism and admin appointees that are industry insiders and have an agenda contrary to its purpose.

Banking: HUGE deregulation at the end of 2000 (thanks Clinton!) and lack of oversight/regulation lead to the collapse.

Your statement concerning healthcare seems to blur the insurance industry and healthcare providers together.

Healthcare providers are not the problem, the insurance industry who's promary concern is profits is the problem.

You're just stringing together random concepts you might have heard any attributing them to other things you think might be related. It's utter nonsense.
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Voyou_Charmant
06/18/09

@mdmadph: Honestly!
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Dillinger23
06/18/09

@rimshot515: You probably cant even comprehend with your little repub brain how many times the FDA has probably saved your life. Just think for 1 fucking second about the peanut thing, sure they missed that, but how many things have they NOT missed, that has prevented you from death, penis loss, and all forms of cancer.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@Dillinger23: Presumptuous troll is presumptuous.
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admoseremic
06/18/09

@mdmadph: While I agree that many government agencies are good and necessary, I also believe that there are many agencies and services and laws that are not necessary and even damaging to businesses and people. A bill that puts these type of trivial limits and laws on a corporation just because a bunch of people don't like the way the business is run lies on the side of unnecessary and damaging in my opinion.
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LeanderSnookie
06/18/09

@admoseremic: How is preventing data caps a bad thing here though? It's an unfair practice caused by the fact that the industry literally has zero competition. It's not due to actual issues providing said bandwidth at all.

I'm all for promoting business, but when the technology sector is trying to push forward and create new exciting ways to use said technology is being stifled by greedy ISP's, I have no issue with the government stepping in and slapping their wrists because they frankly deserve it.

We've come far enough that the digital life should be progressing, not regressing. With all of these ridiculous data caps in place, just for starters, ideas like streaming Netflix are getting hurt. How is this smart business at all?
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RuBBa_cHiKiN: The real question is can it fit in the Batmobile?
06/18/09

@rimshot515: The Recession was nothing more than a side effect of Deregulation.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@LeanderSnookie: Data caps alone might be bad because the companies will try to recoup profits from other areas, like cutting other services or just charging higher prices. In the long run, it might be more damaging to technological development. Any effective regulation must account for all these possibilities.
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nutbastard
06/19/09

@mdmadph:

dude, how pathetically helpless are you that in your mind, a world without the FDA means drinking sewer water?

Are you really so paralyzingly frightened of the world that it turns nightmarish the second there isn't a mother figure making sure your cocoa isn't too hot?

Hunch - you've spent your whole life living in a large city.
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nutbastard
06/19/09

@RuBBa_cHiKiN:

"The Recession was nothing more than a side effect of Deregulation. "

By that argument, then, industry was in a perpetual recession before regulation. And that simply isn't true - the entire industrial revolution occurred with virtually zero regulation.

Had the recession not happened, Old Man Madoff would still be scamming people. Recessions are necessary every once in a while because they expose the bastards and topple towers built too high. The problem here is the government isn't letting the big ones fall, which means that this recession is going to be a long, drawn out bitch of a time with little benefit.
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KinOfCain
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
So long as it's data caps on what is sold as an "unlimited" plan. ISPs should be able to sell access by the GB, but they shouldn't be allowed to cap "unlimited" plans.

If the government wants there to be more competition, then put in plans to genuinely increase competition, don't create stupid laws that require companies to "justify" their prices, that's just going to end in pain for everyone.
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nutbastard
06/18/09

@KinOfCain:

Agreed, This shouldn't require additional legislation - it is covered under false advertising laws. I think the meaning of the word "unlimited" is fairly unambiguous - I mean, obviously one IS limited by hardware etc, but "unlimited" means 'without arbitrary additional limits imposed'.
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ralfhutter
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
Congress people are just stupid. Period. That's why they work for the government. Fuel cells aren't ready for prime-time. The infrastructure is a model made up by oil companies. Gimme an electric car any day.
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Hyman Decent
01/12/09

@ralfhutter: He wouldn't have been able to make this trip in a plug-in electric without stopping for awhile to recharge.
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Hello Mister Walrus
01/12/09

@Hyman Decent: But the charge would cost like $1.50, and some electric cars can already go 200 miles on a single charge, like the Tesla Roadster.

Sure, batteries are expensive now, but thry are getting cheaper and better. It's only a matter of time before we get consumer electric cars with 300 mile ranges.

Plus, it really easy to build electric car infrastructure; power lines are everywhere. It would take a huge investment to make hydrogen plants that can supply the US.
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ripfire
01/13/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: Charging would have taken too long. For a trip like this, he could've taken a train.

Electric cars make more sense for a commute within a city.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
God I hate politicians.

Not only did he show his own incompetence, he also got a whole bunch of unnecessary bad press for Hydrogen fuel cells. Despite what this tool illustrated the technology is sound and with the proper infrastructure will work. If this had been planned by someone with half a brain they would have simply refueled the car from Hydrogen tanks purchased from a local gas supplier.
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spider2544
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
this is why our politicians suck.
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Hello Mister Walrus
01/12/09

@spider2544: I'd say it's a symptom of sucking, rather than the cause.
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balls187
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
LOL @ "Nice work there Captain Planet."
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madog
01/12/09

@Stallion187: Haha, same here.
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G.O.D.
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
And that is why we are in such good hands trusting everything to the government
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ripfire
01/13/09

@Hiroak: Funny you should say that because our people actually put them up there.
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orbitcorbett
01/12/09

In reply to Congressman's Fuel Cell Road Trip Was Horrifically Inefficient
He's a Dumb-o-crat of course. That's why it wasn't mentioned, like the liberal media sidestepping the fact that Blagojovich is a Dumb-o-crat too. Any time a Dumb-o-crat does something stupid (or just plain illegal), they can rest assured that they won't get smeared by the mainstream press.
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92BuickLeSabre
01/12/09

@orbitcorbett: The idea that anyone has sidestepped the fact that Blago is a Dem. blows my tiny little mind.
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rimshot515
01/12/09

@orbitcorbett: Oh, don't forget the repugnacans too.

Both parties suck. Democrats will regulate the hell out of the "free" market until we go the way of Cuba, and republicans just want to force their religion into schools and government. Pick your poison bud!
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ffoofighter2001
01/12/09

@rimshot515: Can we just call people by their actual names please! For God's sake, "dumb-o-crats, Bushy-boy, repugnacans..." bleck

none of these names are clever

none of these names are funny

saying these things makes you look stupid because it seems as though you are trying SO HARD to be edgy by "misspelling" a word...ENOUGH
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Hello Mister Walrus
01/13/09

@ffoofighter2001: I read "dumb-o-crats, Bushy-boy, repugnacans... black". Yeah hmm..
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