Comment Re:This is not a matter of neutrality (Score 1) 438
Here's the thing: In a free society you don't have a right to force someone to provide you with "what you want". They provide you with "what they are willing to sell you."
If you don't like what they're providing, don't buy it.
Now, in an unregulated free market, we don't have Franchise authorities creating monopolies. And we've got to undo 30 years of those authorities doing so, so a path towards competition that creates a free and competitive environment (ie, forced unbundling, etc.) is perfectly acceptable.
But pretending that Comcast is "your bitch" and must provide you with exactly the configuration of network performance that is optimal to your personal needs isn't in any way acceptable.
I agree with just about everything you just said. In a free market Comcast and I (or any other party) are free to come to any agreement within a broad range of legality. However, understanding that in a free society the government is always in a position to decide what agreements it is willing to enforce in the interest of the free market. Without a system where disputes can be equitably resolved, private agreements are either not free or not effective.
If I pay a shop keeper for something and they don't provide that good or service, then there needs to be a way to resolve that dispute within the rules. Likewise if I take a good or service outside of an agreement then regulations are needed to define the rules for dealing with that range of situations. In some clear cases it might be stealing or in some cases it is a civil matter. Likewise there is a very real issue when there is only one seller in the marketplace or a gang that has intimidated all the other sellers, that calls for regulation also.
There is no possibility of a free market without rules governing the free market which keep it free. The rules and the enforcement of those rules is what make a market free or not.
In the current environment where regulations at the local, state and federal levels have all contributed to creating local communications monopolies and there is very little room for an effective free market for Internet access, then there is a necessary place for regulatory reform to create better (usually simpler) rules to create a better free market system.
I agree with those that say the lack of competition is the real underlying issue, but you need rules to address that. I am not talking about more or less rules... just the right rules for the free market system we want.