There might be an argument for Net Neutrality, but this article is so bad it's "not even wrong" as we say.
Most relevant corporate share prices didn’t much react to these events, which suggests that the net neutrality decisions weren’t so important for the sector.
The author doesn't demonstrate that share prices of current major players reflect the impact of net neutrality. One of the big arguments, of course, is that it actually favors incumbents over new players. He tries to demonstrate it, though, with this argument:
To put these share price movements in context, stocks for businesses that would clearly benefit from tax reform rose in value immediately after President Donald Trump’s election. When clear costs and benefits are on the line, share prices seem to reflect this.
He argues that stock movement will be accurate when clear costs and benefits are on the line. However, Trump did not have a tax plan when he was first elected. The costs and benefits were anything but clear.
Have you ever used your Kindle to connect to wireless to download new books from your Amazon account? That too is a kind of nonneutrality. You can download the books, but you can’t use that same wireless connection for more general purposes.
Wrong. You can browse the web with that connection. I can do it on my early model Kindle. If you can't do it on later models, it's because of the Kindle, not the web. And that's the whole point.
Options for access, however, are improving. Cellphone service is falling in price, smartphones are growing in size and quality, and Wi-Fi connections are all over the place.
This is someone who clearly doesn't understand how the internet works. Wi-Fi, of course, is just a means of connecting to the local ISP (comcast, etc.). It has nothing to do with going around the provider, it simply means you don't have to plug a physical wire into your computer.
Cellphone service is a competitor, at least in principle. But the prices need to come down quite a bit before it's competitive enough to put downward pressure on the prices.
The author does not understand Net Neutrality. He gives Netflix as an example of a stock which did fine without it.
The author fails to understand Netflix will benefit if Net Neutrality fails. Customers would not put up with Netflix being blocked or classified at a lower tier. So ISPs are unable to touch it. But a new and upcoming Netflix competitor would be at a disadvantage.
4 comments
[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 21.4 ms ] threadThe notion that maybe Ajit Pai might even be making a decent point is an unspeakable blasphemy.
Most relevant corporate share prices didn’t much react to these events, which suggests that the net neutrality decisions weren’t so important for the sector.
The author doesn't demonstrate that share prices of current major players reflect the impact of net neutrality. One of the big arguments, of course, is that it actually favors incumbents over new players. He tries to demonstrate it, though, with this argument:
To put these share price movements in context, stocks for businesses that would clearly benefit from tax reform rose in value immediately after President Donald Trump’s election. When clear costs and benefits are on the line, share prices seem to reflect this.
He argues that stock movement will be accurate when clear costs and benefits are on the line. However, Trump did not have a tax plan when he was first elected. The costs and benefits were anything but clear.
Have you ever used your Kindle to connect to wireless to download new books from your Amazon account? That too is a kind of nonneutrality. You can download the books, but you can’t use that same wireless connection for more general purposes.
Wrong. You can browse the web with that connection. I can do it on my early model Kindle. If you can't do it on later models, it's because of the Kindle, not the web. And that's the whole point.
Options for access, however, are improving. Cellphone service is falling in price, smartphones are growing in size and quality, and Wi-Fi connections are all over the place.
This is someone who clearly doesn't understand how the internet works. Wi-Fi, of course, is just a means of connecting to the local ISP (comcast, etc.). It has nothing to do with going around the provider, it simply means you don't have to plug a physical wire into your computer.
Cellphone service is a competitor, at least in principle. But the prices need to come down quite a bit before it's competitive enough to put downward pressure on the prices.
The author fails to understand Netflix will benefit if Net Neutrality fails. Customers would not put up with Netflix being blocked or classified at a lower tier. So ISPs are unable to touch it. But a new and upcoming Netflix competitor would be at a disadvantage.