I wouldn't bet against your prediction of the telcos gaining complete control of the internet, Skuzzy. Their tentacles wrap around federal, state and local politicians. Their lobbying efforts to get state legislatures to ban localities from building out high speed/low cost internet access for areas not served, or poorly served or serviced by telcos has been something you can only shake your head at. The methods are transparent and blatently cynical, but they are winning the fight in area after area.
I think media conglomerates are complicit in it. They have the same mindest as the telcos and hope to partner with them to drive small media out of the internet content business to lock up the ad revenue. Eventually, the telcos will deliver most of big medias content, slowly and expensively. They are 'Microsofting' the internet industry.
I think they have reach critical mass. The momentum of their influence and power can no longer be stopped - government, the telcos and media conglomerates are all on the same page and willing to help each other achieve their goals.
- The telcos want to control the distribution revenue.
- The media wants to control the content revenue.
- The government wants to influence the content and have cooperative access to user data. They may not always know why they want it, or how they are going to use it - they just want it.
I admire the good fight and am appalled at the unfairness of it all, but I don't see any way to stop it. It simply isn't right or good because it is anti-innovative and anti-competitive.
