Gubernatorial Candidate Speaks Out Against CAS

New submitter C0R1D4N writes "Carl Bergmanson, a New Jersey gubernatorial democrat running in the 2013 primary, has recently spoken out against the new 'six strike policy' being put in place this week by major ISPs. He said: 'The internet has become an essential part of living in the 21st century, it uses public infrastructure and it is time we treat it as a public utility. The electric company has no say over what you power with their service, the ISPs have no right to decide what you can and can not download.'"

Please

[Frankie70]

The electric company has no say over what you power with their service

Great. What effect is this statement more like to have
- ISPs stop telling you what you can download or not download
or
- Electric companies getting ideas about having a say over what you power with their service.

Re:Sadly, this is probably as good as it gets

[SilentStaid]

You make an excellent point, sir. I don't even live in New Jersey but I'll give him 50 bucks. I know it's not much, but it's what I have to give and I really do want to show (with my dollars) that I support what he stands for.

Because whether or not you like it, that's how this government, and most others, work: Not by majority opinion, but by majority dollars.

Re:Common carrier

[Jane Q. Public]

"SPs look like common carriers and quack like common carriers. It's high time we started treating them as common carriers (i.e., imposing net neutrality on them)."

The FCC has wanted to classify ISPs as Title II Common Carriers since their inception. It was Congress that stopped it from doing so, by passing a law that made ISPs an exception. Backed by lobbying, no doubt. There was never any real, rational reason for doing that and I have been lambasting Congress for it ever since. (That is, "corporate profit" might be a "reason", but not a good one. This situation is definitely not in the public interest. Countries that treat internet more like a utility have significantly better service at lower rates than the U.S.)

The reality is, more than ever before, that ISPs are Common Carriers, in every meaningful way. We need to get Congress to let the FCC classify them as such.

The moment that happens, many of these problems -- and privacy problems too -- simply disappear.

I would say that depends on something...

[damn_registrars]

Whether or not ISPs can dictate what you can or cannot download should be directly related to whether or not they can be liable for you gaining access to illegal material. If they have no liability, then they should just bug off. If however the copyright holders can go after your ISP for allowing you to violate their copyright then it is in the best interest of your ISP to see that you do not.