On October 19, 2007 at 16:39 streiner@cluebyfour.org (Justin M. Streiner) wrote:
How would you react if you were pulled over for speeding on a road that had no posted speed limit?
It's happened to me! Every state has a speed limit which applies wherever no speed limit is posted and drivers are expected to know it. Usually 35MPH at least here in the northeast. The magistrate showed no sympathy whatsoever and obviously had heard it 1,000 times before. THAT SAID... Comcast has a lot of monopoly deals for cable installation with towns etc. Once one accepts monopoly positions the notion of their being unregulated, or unregulateable, or "their ball, their rules", becomes much murkier because the consumers' choices have been forfeited for, well, it really depends on the specific agreements in each case, tho it's not quite as simple as contract law either since in a monopoly situation some assumptions are reasonable. But the agreement is the place to start. I'm sure for example most of these monopoly sweetheart agreements forbid price increases without some form of vetting by those who approved the monopoly (town board of supervisors or whomever), or else they're pretty dumb. If it really were "my ball, my rules" they could charge whatever they like take it or leave it, and not bother with gimmees like community access channels. The monopoly per se is not on TV itself (I can already hear keyboards clacking with words like broadcast and satellite) per se, it's on the right to run the cable plant to homes. Similar to the telco's wire plant monopolies in many areas; those agreements come at some cost to the company, even if you could in theory drop your landline and go get a cell phone. That's not really an answer, but I'm just saying it's not quite as simple as "my ball, my rules". -- -Barry Shein The World | bzs@TheWorld.com | http://www.TheWorld.com Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 800-THE-WRLD | Login: Nationwide Software Tool & Die | Public Access Internet | SINCE 1989 *oo*