Comment Re:Promised bandwidth? (Score 1) 160
I kind of gathered that from the obvious amount of thought you put into your original argument.
In stark contrast to the vast amount of thought you've put in? Not quite...
The BBB is only useless if consumers ignore it.
That's correct and precisely my point, they are useless because there's no solid reason for the companies to pay attention to it other than if the consumer pays attention to it--and we both know how fickle consumers are. You even made an example of how this DOESN'T work--CR's tests were false, Suzuki had evidence of this, yet consumers didn't listen.
All the BBB has are empty threats. Establishing an independent agency of the government will back it up with the necessary authority so that it wouldn't be ignored. Relying on your CR scenario to curb the industry would be worthless: there's no telling what the consumer will and won't ignore regarding the empty threats that come out of baseless committees. To ensure the industry would listen, one needs sufficient negative reinforcement when they don't listen.
You put forth a scenario presuming a government agency can be separated from financial/political interests and trusted to make decisions on purely ethical grounds.
Apparently you're unaware of how these agencies of the government work. I can't blame you--nothing you've said so far lacks ignorance. The President of the United States (a person whom was directly elected by the people) sends a list of candidates for the board to be approved by the Senate (100 people voted into their position by--you guessed it--the general population). This ensures that the people elected to the board of whatever agency are elected by a hodgepodge of people with differing political agendas WHO EACH IN TURN WAS DIRECTLY ELECTED TO THEIR POSITION BY THE GENERAL POPULATION. Now, the possibility of the board being corrupt is certainly there, the potential is zero. You would have to have voted a president and all 100 members of the senate into office having the exact same political position which has never and will never happen.
And before you put forth your best effort to blow holes in this statement, the above has been proven to work quite well. There have been sufficiently few instances of politically corrupt independent agencies to believe that system works--for what it's worth anyway. When was the last time you've heard the FCC using it's power for political gain? Never, and the commission's goals were in stark contrast to the right-dominated government (80% of the last decade).
How old are you? Can you even vote?
Seriously? Grow up, and take a break from the Internet please. Nobody likes talking to an asshole.
It scares me that you might actually trust in government enough that you could believe that such an institution could actually exist.
I would like to point out that if there were a way of curbing the industry without government intervention, I'm all for that. I just don't see that happening whatsoever since the government has set up a system to protect the companies which inadvertently put them in control of the industry instead of the consumer. Since you obviously believe you're superior to me, please tell me your suggestion. After all, you must have one since you're trying so hard to blow holes in mine. And for future reference, this is how conversations "in the real world" usually go. If you disagree, you make recommendations instead of attempting to sound superior but giving no real contribution to the conversation.