[171705] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Observations of an Internet Middleman (Level3) (was: RIP Network
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Patrick W. Gilmore)
Sat May 10 14:44:54 2014
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: "Patrick W. Gilmore" <patrick@ianai.net>
Date: Sat, 10 May 2014 14:42:53 -0400
In-Reply-To: <CAJvB4tnM0c4vE7Fwym_OdKQichRR0i9w1NvYaFd56dJQvSBcaA@mail.gmail.com>
To: NANOG Operators' Group <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
Nice discussion about history & motivations. Not completely correct, but it'=
s always fun to argue over history, and over motivations, since both are ope=
n to intepretation.
Personally, I am interested in the future, and specifically in market-driven=
solutions to our problems. Call me a capitalist if you like, but I believe i=
n a functioning market, we can get a very good approximation of "fair".
If Company A and Company B have a mutual customer, and that customer needs b=
oth companies to perform a task, the market will find a way to make those tw=
o companies work together. Either that, or the customer will replace A or B,=
whichever the customer feels is underperforming, with Company C.
We have that situation today. Streaming Company wants to send End User of Br=
oadband Company some content. If Streaming Company sucks - not enough titles=
, lousy customer service, high price, poor performance, etc., etc. - End Use=
r is free to select Streaming Company 2. And contrary to popular belief, the=
re are plenty of "Streaming Company 2s" available. Besides NF, there is Hulu=
, Amazon, iTunes, iPlayer, etc. They might have different models, but they a=
ll allow you to access streaming content, so choice is available.
And here is where we get into the problem. Should End User believe Broadband=
Company sucks, they frequently cannot choose Broadband Company 2. I know I c=
annot, my choices are Comcast @ 100 Mbps or Verizon at 1.1 (yes, one-point-o=
ne) Mbps. So when Streaming Company sucks, but they suck because Broadband c=
ompany is doing something I do not like, I cannot "vote with my wallet" and p=
ick Broadband Company 2. I have no choice but to pick Streaming Company 2, e=
ven if I think the problem is Broadband Company's fault. (To be clear, I am n=
ot a NF subscriber - any more - and so this is not a NF/CC thing, I'm just t=
alking generalities.)
Put more succinctly, there is no functioning market. therefore there cannot b=
e a market-based solution.
Personally, I view that as about the most Un-American, Un-Capitalistic thing=
there is.
Lots of people have suggested a simple, if very difficult, fix to this probl=
em. Make the underlying physical infrastructure a regulated monopoly, i.e. a=
Utility. Then allow anyone to run services over that physical infrastructur=
e.
This is not pipe dream. The UK does it today. People there pick ISPs based o=
n service, price, features, etc., not on "who paid off my local PUC".
And before anyone brings up the whole "the UK is more dense than the US", I p=
reemptively call BS. There is more choice, faster speeds, and lower prices i=
n the middle of no-where UK than downtown manhattan. Please just leave that a=
rgument where it belongs, in the dung heap.
Why can we not do something similar in the US? because the companies who own=
the lines have enough money to pay enough lobbyists to avoid even the promi=
ses they do make. (If anyone on this list is un-aware of things like the tel=
cos promising ubiquitous high-speed BB years ago and never delivering, but n=
ever giving back their tax breaks or monopoly positions, you should be asham=
ed of yourselves.)
But hey, a guy can dream, right?
In the mean time, let's stop pretending that 'oh, L3 paid CC so they must be=
best friends'. L3 paid because They Had No Choice, and maybe because they s=
ee some long-term strategic benefit (e.g. they can charge others more later)=
.
This is not a functioning market. This is a few players with Market Power ch=
arging Rents, which any first year econ major will explain is a _very_very_v=
ery_ bad place for the market to be.
--=20
TTFN,
patrick
