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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday June 05 2021, @01:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the business-as-usual dept.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/charter-charges-more-money-for-slower-internet-on-streets-with-no-competition/

It's no surprise that cable companies charge lower prices for broadband when they face competition from fiber-to-the-home services. But an article yesterday by Stop the Cap provides a good example of how dramatically promotional prices for Charter's Spectrum Internet service can vary from one street to the next.

In this example, Charter charges $20 more per month for slower speeds on the street where it faces no serious competition. When customers in two areas purchase the same speeds, the customer on the street without competition could have to pay $40 more per month and would have their promotional rates expire after only one year instead of two.

Stop the Cap said it examined promotional offers to new customers in the metro Rochester, New York, market, "where Spectrum faces token competition from Frontier's slow speed DSL service" and more robust competition in limited areas from Greenlight Networks' fiber service. Greenlight fiber is available in 23 percent of Rochester, while Charter cable is available to homes throughout the city, according to BroadbandNow. Greenlight prices start at $50 per month for 500Mbps.

"Charter's offers are address-sensitive," Stop the Cap founder Phillip Dampier wrote. "The cable company knows its competition and almost exactly where those competitors offer service. That is why the company asks for your service address before it quotes you pricing."

Am I the only one that's appalled at the Upload speeds? From the linked BroadbandNow page for Spectrum: Speeds up to:1,000 Mbps Download, 35 Mbps Upload

Previously:
Charter Must Pay $19 Million for Tricking Customers Into Switching ISPs


Original Submission

Related Stories

Charter Must Pay $19 Million for Tricking Customers Into Switching ISPs 4 comments

Charter must pay $19 million for tricking customers into switching ISPs:

A judge has ordered Charter Communications to pay $19.2 million to Windstream for lying to customers in order to trick them into switching from Windstream to Charter's Spectrum Internet service. Charter also faces a $5,279 penalty for shutting off service to hundreds of Windstream's resale customers.

When Windstream filed for bankruptcy in early 2019, Charter began a "literally false and intentionally misleading advertising campaign intended to create the impression, using mailings designed to seem as if they were coming from the Debtors [Windstream], that the Debtors were going out of business," said an order issued Thursday by Judge Robert Drain of US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Charter's goal with the mailings "was to induce the Debtors' customers to terminate their contracts and switch to Charter by sending them literally false and intentionally misleading information about the Debtors' bankruptcy cases and financial wherewithal," the ruling said. Charter premised its ad campaign "on false assertions regarding the Debtors' bankruptcy cases," the ruling said.

"We are gratified that Judge Drain's ruling means Charter will have to pay a significant price for its egregious false advertising," Windstream General Counsel Kristi Moody said, according to a FierceTelecom article. "Charter knew full well what it was doing when it embarked on a dishonest scare-tactic campaign to lure away our customers. At Windstream, we will always aggressively defend ourselves and our customers against predatory schemes and meritless allegations."

Charter declined to comment on the ruling when contacted by Ars today.

As mentioned in a related Gizmodo article:

Ironically, Charter had filed a lawsuit against DirecTV in 2009 for giving its customers a false impression they would lose their service because of Charter's bankruptcy filing.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday June 05 2021, @01:26PM (4 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday June 05 2021, @01:26PM (#1142032) Journal

    It's up to us to crack open the market, with our votes, since our dollars are worth squat

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:44PM (3 children)

      by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:44PM (#1142047)

      I would laugh at your naivete if it wasn't so sad that you truly seem to believe what you say...

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday June 05 2021, @03:06PM (2 children)

        by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday June 05 2021, @03:06PM (#1142052) Journal

        There's nobody but us.. Who did you have in mind?

        --
        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:11PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:11PM (#1142076)

          Power memes by some of the smartest and most aggressive memers in the world.

          And guess what, those memes aren't going to be positive.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:35PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:35PM (#1142110)

            Power memes. Love me some propaganda.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @01:55PM (29 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @01:55PM (#1142037) Journal

    Knowing that this pricing scheme is happening, why haven't they taken Charter to court? If the guy on Oak Street can get service for $XX, I certainly don't want to pay $XX + $YY on Cedar Avenue just because the service provider can get away with it.

    It seems that some minorities might be affected. There's a lot of nice homes on Oak Street, and the only brown faces you see are delivery men and gardeners. Over on Cedar Avenue, the houses aren't so nice, and most of the faces are brown or black. Why would the big corporations compete to get into this neighborhood? There's not a lot of money on Cedar Avenue.

    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:37PM (17 children)

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:37PM (#1142044)
      It may not technically be illegal. Especially if they all start at the same speed and rates increase over time.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:47PM (16 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:47PM (#1142049) Journal

        If it isn't illegal, then it should be made illegal.

        Competition keeps the prices down. It has been demonstrated again and again that the most competition is in the business districts, and the most affluent neighborhoods. Meaning, it's the poor folk and minorities in second and third class neighborhoods who are being exploited.

        What's more - it might be alright to have a monopoly, whether that monopoly is local or worldwide. It's the expoitation of a monopoly that gets you in trouble. It's pretty obvious that Charter is exploiting their monopoly position here.

        All it needs is a liberal judge to hear that the exploitation primarily affects disadvantaged people, and it's game over for Charter. Extra points if there are disproportionate numbers of gays or tranvestites in those neighborhoods!!

        • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:02PM (12 children)

          by captain normal (2205) on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:02PM (#1142072)

          That is a big problem in this country (the US of A)
          .https://www.pulse.ng/communities/religion/wealthgreed-12-things-the-bible-says-about-the-love-for-money/07p7p0c

          --
          When life isn't going right, go left.
          • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:07PM (11 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:07PM (#1142075)

            So... you're saying we should be using the Bible to make our laws? I imagine the LGBTXYZ+!~ community would not be happy about that.

            • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:23PM (6 children)

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:23PM (#1142080) Journal

              So - you're saying that we should have the queer community make our laws instead?

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:26PM (5 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:26PM (#1142104)
                Your reading comprehension is terrible.
                • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:36PM (4 children)

                  by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:36PM (#1142112) Journal

                  I asked a legitimate question. GP pointed out that gender benders wouldn't like laws based on the Old Testament. And, I'm wondering why we care what they like. Billionaires don't like laws that restrict their ability to exploit the lower classes, and we don't spend a lot of time worrying about them. Need I point out other groups who don't like the laws that restrict their ways of life?

                  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:58PM (1 child)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:58PM (#1142120)

                    It was not a legitimate question, and for a freedom loving type of person it should be obvious why religious wackos should not be making laws that govern others. Your comparison to billionaires really highlights your ignorance. Run away hillbilly, this conversation is above your pay grade.

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:00AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:00AM (#1142608)

                      It's not obvious to me, as a freedom-loving person, why anyone should be governing anyone else rather than minding their own damn business.

                  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:37PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:37PM (#1142127)

                    (FYI, I'm the GP poster to whom you directed your question.)

                    So - you're saying that we should have the queer community make our laws instead?

                    As another poster pointed out, your reading comprehension is terrible.

                    I was just pointing out that some (many? most?) people would not want our society run (solely) in accordance with the Bible (as an earlier post suggested, probably sarcastically). Most of our laws and rules are based on the Bible (murder is wrong, etc.), but we ignore much of it (adulterers and homosexuals should be stoned).

                    The only reason homosexuality is being discussed in this story's comments is because you decided, without any evidence at all, that this was probably being done for homophobic reasons. Just like you decided, without any evidence at all, that it was being done for racist reasons. And, just like you decided that, when someone told you it probably wasn't illegal, that it should be illegal, just because you want it to be.

                    You're a lunatic.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:34AM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:34AM (#1142267)

                    It's a sad state of affairs when a man is so lost he needs the very basics explained to him. You're like the woman who was kept in a basement as some retard's sex gimp for the first 20 years of her life. But even she finally realized it was shit and escaped.

            • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:27PM (3 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:27PM (#1142081)

              The preferred regex is LGBTQUX[A-Z]+, which covers all known and future varieties of pervert.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:38PM (2 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:38PM (#1142087)

                Wish I could see the look on your face when the Devil tosses you into the lake of fire.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:38PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:38PM (#1142113)

                  You should be more concerned with the look on your own face when you see that lake of fire.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:03AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:03AM (#1142610)

                  You should see me laughing at the ignorant clown proudly displaying their denial of reality like a badge of honor.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @01:47PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @01:47PM (#1142360)

          If it isn't illegal, then it should be made illegal.

          Competition keeps the prices down.

          Yeah and so why should it be made illegal? Are you some kind of Communist? According to the Bible of Capitalism and the Free Market, when the prices get high enough a competitor will step in to serve those neighborhoods. There's definitely some competition in the other neighborhoods...

          It's only a monopoly for certain streets, there's competition in other streets. You expect competition everywhere? Are you're going to whine even more when they start giving individuals different prices just like Amazon kind of does?

          This is what you'll get more of when Big Data and Capitalism join hands.

          the most competition is in the business districts, and the most affluent neighborhoods. Meaning, it's the poor folk and minorities in second and third class neighborhoods who are being exploited.

          According to the True Americans the poor should just get richer then. Just like they should get rich so that other people don't have to pay for their healthcare[1].

          [1] True Americans prefer to pay extra for poor Americans to get healthcare by sitting in ER till they get treated, or commiting crimes to get healthcare in prison. It's worth paying extra so that the poor get motivated to work harder and get rich. After all look at the millions of true Americans who are now billionaires because they worked damn hard.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:24PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:24PM (#1142951)

          A lot of affluent areas have little competition as well. Mostly because they tend to be located in more remote locations. Sure affluent people can pay more but that doesn't change the fact.

          Congested areas, if anything, tend to have more competition.

        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:27PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:27PM (#1142953)

          This shouldn't be about 'minority groups' or 'majority groups' or the 'affluent'.

          It should be about competition. People of all class should agree on this.

          Also the democrats need to stop making everything about race and class and trying to divide us by race and class. We need to organize against government (and corporate) corruption and allowing the democrats to divide us like they have always have done is not a good thing.

          We need to all agree that this corruption by these corporations is bad. It's not about class or race or any of that. Let's be focused on the corruption and stop bringing race and class and religion into everything when it's unrelated.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @04:26PM (10 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @04:26PM (#1142068)

      Do you have any evidence at all that there is a racial component to this, or are you just pulling the "race card" out of your ass?

      There is absolutely no reason why a company should charge less than what the market will bear. They get to decide how to price their products and services so as to maximize profit. You don't get a say in it (unless you're an owner/shareholder) other than to choose not to do business with them.

      If there is no money to be made in some markets, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with a company choosing to stay out of that market. More likely, no competitors is because the government has given one company a legal monopoly. If that's the case, they should be upset with their elected officials, not the cable company.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:19PM (4 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:19PM (#1142079) Journal

        are you just pulling the "race card" out of your ass?

        Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I did pull it out of my ass. But, I thought I laid out my reasoning well enough to understand. The most affluent parts of town see every internet provider in the region installing hardware, and competing for business, while less affluent parts of town are left at the mercy of whichever monopoly comes along.

        You figure out exactly what "less affluent" means. Poor folk of course, but there is some evidence that poor black folk might be poorer than poor white folk. It's the black folk who live in those inner city slums after all. White folk migrate out to the suburbs.

        As for profiteering - it's funny how there are laws against it, when it suits government to enforce those laws.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:30PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:30PM (#1142955)

          "Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I did pull it out of my ass."

          Which is why none of it is true.

          I'm pretty sure that the people that live in Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills pay more for Internet and for water than people that live in cities. I'm certain because I've known people that live there and talked to them and I know how much water costs in some of those areas. It's WAY more expensive because it's expensive to get water up in those areas and more difficult to get anything up there. Plus, for whatever reason, these people don't like cell phone towers in their areas and so it's hard to get cell phone reception in these areas.

          Stop making things up.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:55AM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:55AM (#1142979)

            Ahhhh, first world privileged white people problems. It's expensive to get water to the top of a hill in the desert.

            No worries, though. Soon, there will be no water, and your friends can move to someplace that has water - and internet.

            https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=49138¬e=&title=Las+Vegas%E2%80%99s+New+Strategy+for+Tackling+Drought+%E2%80%93+Banning+%E2%80%98Useless+Grass%E2%80%99 [soylentnews.org]

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:41AM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @05:41AM (#1143044)

              So make things up and when you get proven wrong change the subject. This is why I hate the left.

              Also Chicago's mayor refuses interviews from white reporters. Imagine if a white mayor refused interviews from a black reporter. How is this not racist.

              Also didn't Biden undo Trump's executive order allowing us to purchase pharmaceuticals from Canada. Biden talked about reducing prices but what has he done to do so.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 10 2021, @02:14PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 10 2021, @02:14PM (#1143885)

                (same poster)
                Anyways let's bring this to its logical conclusion. If this affects 'minority' communities more than it affects affluent ones perhaps it's because the minority communities are the ones that keep voting for the wrong politicians and those politicians keep limiting competition in their communities for whatever reason. Are you saying that minorities are less able to vote for good politicians than affluent people, that perhaps they're poor because they make bad decisions and that includes the bad decisions with respect to whom they elect?

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Tork on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:29PM (4 children)

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:29PM (#1142106)

        There is absolutely no reason why a company should charge less than what the market will bear.

        We’re talking about monopolies here, try to keep up.

        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:44PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:44PM (#1142130)

          We’re talking about monopolies here, try to keep up.

          Nice snark!

          If the monopoly agreement in question doesn't allow this behavior, then the town can punish them with (maybe) fines and certainly cancelling their contract.

          If , however, the monopoly agreement does allow this behavior (or the local government is not enforcing the agreement), then their beef isn't with Charter, it's with their local government. And the people can, if they dislike this behavior enough, punish them with being voted out of office (or maybe tar and feather them, then ride them out on a rail).

          • (Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday June 05 2021, @11:44PM (2 children)

            by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @11:44PM (#1142186)
            If a business has a legal right to set its price however it wants, its customers (and potential customers) certainly have a right to dispute the prices, especially when "vote for your dollars" is not a thing. Voting the representatives out is not a path to lowering your bill. "You just wait till mid-terms!"
            --
            🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @12:36PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @12:36PM (#1142343)

              Voting the representatives out is not a path to lowering your bill. "You just wait till mid-terms!"

              I know of a recent example that refutes your claim.

              In Cook County Illinois (which includes Chicago), the County Board decided that drinking sugary drinks was a "Bad Thing"(tm). So they imposed a tax on sugary beverages (adding about $0.75 to the cost of a six-pack of soda).

              In just a few months, it became clear that the people of Cook County greatly objected to this new tax, and in order to save their jobs, the County Board reversed their decision (by a 15-1 margin). Toni Preckwinkle, President of the County Board, had been a serious contender in the upcoming Chicago mayoral race, but suffered a humiliating defeat at least in part because of her support of the "soda tax".

              "Voting the representatives out" is very effective when the government rules against the consensus of the people. It doesn't work so well when most people don't care, and there is outrage only in fringe group echo chambers.

              (And just in case someone wants to drage class/race/sex into the argument, it's clear that this change was brought primarly by the poor, for whom the extra $0.75 per six-pack was a significant issue. Regardless of the opinions of class-obsessed people who are over represented on sites like this one, poor people's votes count just as much as those of the wealthy.)

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:33PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:33PM (#1142957)

                What's funny is the the strongest class obsessed people tend to be the more affluent ones. Just like the strongest race obsessed people tend to be white.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:05PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:05PM (#1142038)

    Even with AT&T fibre 1Gb Symmetric in the area (though cannot actual use it - sub station is only 1Gb Symmetric - neighborhood all share). My cable is 100Mb and 10Mb for the same price.

    When I ordered cable modem, I asked for the fastest UPLOAD speed with the slowest download speed. That froze the sales person in their tracks.
    Them: What you do not want 1GB. speed?
    Me: Not unless the upload speed is faster the 10Mb. I need back haul performance for backups. The other is just a waste.
    Them: you know with 6 devices that uses a lot of bandwidth...
    Me: No it does not. My 56 devices only use 5Mb download speed with spike usage up to 25Mb. Why do I need 40x over providing? I have over 2 years of usage data that shows that. What I need is feed BackBlaze with backup data.
    Them: Let me fine the find print of the all the plans to see the upload speeds.
    Me: Thank you.

    • (Score: 1, Redundant) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:26PM (5 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @02:26PM (#1142040) Journal

      I think there is a vested interest in ensuring that you do not run a server from your home. Back in the days of dial up, my provider stipulated that I must not run a server accessible from the internet. The first DSL contract had a similar stipulation. The DSL provider gives me a home page, on their servers, from which I might serve up some smalltime blogging or whatnot. You get so much bandwidth per month for free, then you have to sign a contract for additional bandwidth. (I really don't remember what that bandwidth is/was.) Symmetrical 100/100 bandwidth would put a stop to that sort of agreement. Why pay for them to host a site, if you can host it on your own hardware?

      Of course, "The Cloud" has probably destroyed whatever income they were getting out of that.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @03:48PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @03:48PM (#1142061)

        now i don't know what OS you where running at the time but for most, this:
        "Back in the days of dial up, my provider stipulated that I must not run a server accessible from the internet" was "a good thing", considering that m$ stab at a webserver crashed (or worse) when encountering a URL that was longer then 256 characters ... ofc many many other such "bugs" followed, even into the ISDN and ADSL times.
        so maybe this wasn't about any nefarious plot but more to protect the customer, since they (isp) probably knew that being pawnd was only one click away.
        tho it's funny we don't see any such "concerns" with all them IOT devices coming on-line nowadays; which are kindda a step-up (in a bad sense) from IIS ...

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:44PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:44PM (#1142131)

        1) Define a "server"
        2) Define a "client"

        There is no damn difference. No matter how hard you try.

        Now T-Mobile has cute wireless plan at $60/mo "unlimited". Except they claim that "automated connections" can not be used and will throttle you if you do.

        All connections are automated! Are you reaching in and tight the pipe to google or bing or ... What about all the stealing in "telemetry" information? More automated connections. What about automated connections to tracking sites / ad sites. You actually asked for that?

        Yeah, but the BackBlaze backup that is automated and theat is what they want to kill.

        Marketing... just a bunch of liars... Just like the Robotcalls.

      • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:54PM (2 children)

        by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:54PM (#1142160) Journal

        I used to run a web server on my home internet, but that was mysteriously blocked at some point several years back. Time Warner/Specturm played dumb, said they hadn't done anything, hadn't made any changes.

        However, shutting down the web server port, or whatever they did to mess it up, probably worked out best for me, as I was also collecting piracy accusations. Wouldn't do for the MAFIAA to point a web browser at the IP address on which they believe piracy occurred, and find my web server blabbing my real name to all visitors. If the MAFIAA tried to shake me down, under threat of a lawsuit, and I refused to blink and the matter actually went to court, I feel very unsure that I'd win regardless of any evidence or actual guilt. For me to win, the judges would have to legislate from the bench. And so, the court system is not, I think, the best place to have that fight. The legislature is better, but also not a good place to engage in that battle. Too corrupt and too backwards. Lawmaking has a long history of trailing way behind change. De facto usually comes before de jure.

        But back to the subject of the article. Yes, yes, more evidence that monopolies gouge. Maybe, enough such carefully documented studies and evidence will finally do undo monopolists and their bs arguments what video recording has done to cops with their denials of racism and other abuses of power.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @12:44AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @12:44AM (#1142202)

          You put your really-for-real-name on your computer? I am far from the most paranoid person on the intarwebz, but my computer doesn't know my name, my address, my age.

          • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday June 06 2021, @01:46AM

            by bzipitidoo (4388) on Sunday June 06 2021, @01:46AM (#1142219) Journal

            Real name? Yes, used to, but no longer. Haven't used my real name for my user name in 20 years. Any place where my real name is, I keep fairly bland. Facebook, for instance. Don't want some fanatic nut job unhappy with my political or religious views finding out where I live and showing up on my doorstep with a shotgun in hand. Though if that is a problem, it must be exceedingly rare.

  • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Saturday June 05 2021, @04:36PM

    by Spamalope (5233) on Saturday June 05 2021, @04:36PM (#1142071) Homepage

    How to we get a truth in advertising law to require the lower of the speeds to be advertised, along for worst case speeds? (maybe the 'work from home to stop global warming act' to make it PC for 2021). As long as they can lie to secure a multi-year contract how can market pressure to fix it ever develop?

  • (Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:05PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @05:05PM (#1142074)

    ... who keep saying that a private company can arbitrarily suspend service to anyone they don't like?

    If it's OK for Twitter or Facebook to not provide service for any reason, then the same rule should be applied to Charter. And, of course, they aren't withholding service, which makes this even less evil than what Twitter/Facebook/etc are doing.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:21PM (#1142102)

      leftists

      That's primarily a Libertarian argument, though I guess I have to admit that compared to the fascist Republican Party and not-quite-yet-fascist Democratic Party, the Libertarian Party are leftists.

      Yeah the DNC has a nationalist socialist org called DSA that Socialist Alternative for what ever reason is attempting to enter, but they just can't seem to find the congressional road to socialism. So they kind of herp and derp around and can't seem to even pull the DNC a little to the left. They just make leftist noises without leftist action. In general, any time you mix nationalism with socialism, you get right-wing horror.

      Any time I say that about the DNC I feel I need a disclaimer: the Republican Party is ahead of the Democratic Party 1-0 if you're measuring fascist coup attempts, and I hear from the Republicans that now they want to try again in July, but this time they actually want to install a military dictatorship. The DNC will attempt to appease the military dictatorship and then get shown by real Nazis how to national socialist, including political purges, and what happens to those who attempt to appease Nazis.

      If you want left-leaning capitalism, you gotta go Libertarian. Though of course the Libertarian Party is as incapable of stopping Republican Nazis as Mises was back in the day.

      The international working class will show you what leftism is... or else 5 billion people will be dead by the end of the Year of Hell after the nukes fly

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:39AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:39AM (#1142268)

        Nukes aren't going to fly - they're a relic from the days of Big Ideas aka commies vs the gratest nation on earth.

        Both sides are now in the same game of screwing over the working schmuck. No bombs required, only a police state and more and more rules (for you).

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:33PM (4 children)

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:33PM (#1142109)

      What happened to all the leftists... ... who keep saying that a private company can arbitrarily suspend service to anyone they don't like?

      You’re not dumb enough to fail at grasping the inequity of the two scenarios. If you want a rematch to a previous debate just log in and say so.

      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:40AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:40AM (#1142269)

        > arbitrarily

        define please.

        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 06 2021, @06:04AM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 06 2021, @06:04AM (#1142277)
          > monopoly

          define please.
          --
          🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @02:10PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @02:10PM (#1142364)

          > arbitrarily

          define please.

          Just one recent example:

          Twitter locked the account of a group that was posting Anthony Fauchi's emails. There was no doubt that the emails were legit, and there was no doubt that they were obtained in a legal manner (Freedom of Information Act).

          Twitter banned them for simply commenting that they had posted the emails to their own web site. Twitter claimed they were stopping "misinformation".

          That's what I call "arbitrarily".

          http://inlandnwreport.com/2021/06/03/ican-banned-and-new-emails-make-fauci-look-like-a-fraud/ [inlandnwreport.com]

          • (Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday June 06 2021, @04:54PM

            by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 06 2021, @04:54PM (#1142406)

            Heh. Knew you couldn’t. 🤡

            --
            🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:52PM (#1142159)

      They still complain about it. But after being on the receiving end for so long, they are enjoying the schadenfreude of watching the leopards turning on their voters and eating Republican faces.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @06:05PM (#1142095)

    Without fiber, your upstream traffic would seize. It would be very painful!

    I moved to the big city and got me symmetric fiber. My packets have never been as regular.

    If you also drop some money on a quality router/NAT that does FQ-CODL, you don't even need the higher speeds on offer here. I'm paying just $20 per month and 3mbit is plenty, though any time one of my games has a big update I consider bumping up to 10mbit. I'm getting better connectivity than cow-orkers who are behind a shit bargain-barrel consumer NAT device paying $100 per month for asymmetric inet with crazy downstream and miniscule upstream.

    Fuck the cable monopolies.

    Of course, in 50 years my fiber ISP will be just as bad as Charter/Comcast/etc is today thanks to the magic of capitalism. Capitalism: we boosways turn everything to shit and then gaslight you to blame it on Mexican Chinese Transsexual Jooooooooos, all so that we can privately accumulate more money than god.

  • (Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:47PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @07:47PM (#1142132)

    ... that if the story was "Charter is charging more in Republican neighborhoods than in Democratic ones", the people complaining would completely reverse their positions and be wildly enthusiastic about Charter's behavior.

    • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 05 2021, @09:27PM (#1142152)

      Well, we can't help if you can't help but think up stupid straw man scenarios.

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday June 06 2021, @04:22AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Sunday June 06 2021, @04:22AM (#1142250) Homepage

      They do, but it usually sounds something like "If you hicks want to live out in the back of nowhere, you can make do with dialup."

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:44AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 06 2021, @05:44AM (#1142270)

      Sadly, rural areas do have worse internet and... they would still rather fuck over teh libs than get summa dat sweet infrastructure.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:16AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:16AM (#1142615)

        How do the tiny number of people in rural areas manage to fuck things up for you? Bourgoies prick.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @02:40PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @02:40PM (#1142746)

          Mostly because the Senate grants them power at an incredible ratio.

          Wyoming/Population
          578,759 (2019)

          California/Population
          39.51 million (2019)

          That means that a rural voter of Wyoming has about 80 times the Senate power of a voter in California (yes, I realize my rounding is favorable to my argument, 40m to 0.5m).

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