DISQUS

"To take Hance’s shopping mall example, this would be akin to Macy’s being required to contribute to the upkeep not only of the streets around its store, but also to the residential streets and driveways of every one of its customers, no matter how far away those customers live. That’s not how we do street finance, and it’s not how Internet pricing works either."

Tim - I am not advocating that but I am also not advocating against it. If content and delivery providers agree to subsidize last-mile connections to some extent with advertising revenue -- as opposed to letting content providers keep all of it -- they should be allowed to do so.

Remember, Google CEO Eric Schmidt suggested the possibility that cell phones out to be free, subsidized by targeted ads.

Why would it be okay to let the market decide to subsidize cell phones, if it wants, but not fiber, coaxial or DSL connections? The only reason I can think of is because cable and phone companies used to be monopolies. But they aren't monopolies anymore -- not even close -- although here as in so many other places there is admittedly a problem of lagging perception.