fccinfo@fcc.gov

I just sent them a note with my concerns and a request that this be reconsidered with American consumers in mind.

Do the same!

Before you get all oogey-boogeyman about Google seeking to "hold your data hostage", you should be aware that they do have an entire engineering division whose sole purpose is to ensure an easy export of all data you have with them:

http://www.dataliberation.org/

I'm sorry to be a leotard, but could someone please explain why this is bad in simple terms? Like you would explain it to your grandmother maybe?

PS I SMOKE WEED

@PC: You don't get forced to drive slower because you're going to Shari's instead of Taco Bell, right? So why should your Internet go slower because you're downloading a torrent vs. shopping on eBay?

Maybe a clearer example: you pay for your cell phone service, but it doesn't get better reception because you're talking to your grandmother rather than a phone sex line. Why should your Internet service be any different?

It seems to be a strange cultural ignorance that has forced us to accept being screwed when we pay for a service. I don't get it. Remember the big brewhaha over the "cheater pints" around town? In Germany, you pay for a specific amount of beverage, and there's usually a line on the cup that show you're getting the exact amount you pay for. Somehow we're willing to just pay for "some drink."

@oregomentry: this post doesn't seem to be talking about which sites you go to, but rather how you get to them (wireless or wired) - right? Or are you saying that this deal means that the wireless surfing will vary in speed depending on which sites you go to?

At any rate, this is balls.

@ Oregometry-so the issue is that people who have smartphones and other mobile gadgets will have a different (and likely crappier and more expensive) service than people using the wireless internet in their homes or in coffee shops?

I'm not that dumb, but I need this dumbed down. I don't even know what a torrent is.

And if ROM says it's balls, I believe it.

Essentially, as I understand it, this allows wireless internet to be delivered in a rationed way as determined by the company.

It simply allows them to throttle your bandwidth if they don't like how you're using it.

The "compromise" portion of this was to provide a mediocre bastardization of the consumer protections for wired internet, which is equally bunk because wired internet will be a thing of the past within a decade.

We just sold out, once again, to the folks that take our money and then convince voters that the government is taking our money.