309
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
Yes, there was the case of Netflix and Comcast for example.
The events were basically these:
Comcast noticed that Netflix is responsible for a lot of traffic of their private internet customers.
...
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161
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
Here's a comment that's been circulating on reddit discussing the answer to this question. I didn't write it, but I thought it had excellent information. It was originally posted (as far as I can tell)...
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89
votes
Accepted
Is there an EU law that prevents repair of electrical devices?
No. There is no regulation that prevents a citizen from repairing themselves any kind of electronic device. The problem is that there is also no regulation that requires electronics companies to ...
- 5,427
84
votes
Accepted
Why are Weapon Restriction Laws considered Liberal?
Labels like "conservative" versus "liberal" or "left" versus "right" are often applied to larger-scale political movements, parties or ways of thinking, without every single detail being thrown into ...
- 1,704
82
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
There have been a few examples, in part, these examples have pushed this more into the spotlight. It's often under the term 'traffic shaping' if you are interested, here is Sandvine, a company that ...
- 2,305
77
votes
Accepted
What does Texas gain from keeping its electrical grid independent?
Citing Economist.com coverage
The state’s deregulated power market is also fiercely competitive. ERCOT oversees the grid, while power generators produce electricity for the wholesale market. Some 300 ...
69
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
You also can take a look at mobile internet products in Portugal:
Now assume you have the VIDEO pack because you watch Twitch a lot. If you now decide to get some streaming service, will it be ...
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64
votes
What does Texas gain from keeping its electrical grid independent?
As a general rule, regulation transfers costs from consumers to producers, while deregulation transfers costs from producers to consumers. In this specific case, that works out like so:
With ...
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49
votes
Can the US government mandate what people are allowed to eat?
Theoretically, the Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government is limited in its power to mandate products. In practice... it depends.
Your hypothetical about whether the government can ...
- 8,052
46
votes
Why are Weapon Restriction Laws considered Liberal?
This mostly had to do with (as usual, confusing) political terminology and branding.
"Liberal" in USA has several meanings, mainly, either (1) "classical liberal" (which in USA is typically branded ...
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42
votes
Have any public figures faced any consequences for breaking pandemic rules, especially their own?
If resigning from a government post counts as a consequence, then there are a few UK examples:
In April 2020, Scotland's chief medical officer resigned after making two trips to her second home during ...
- 11.2k
37
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
Comcast, in the face of cable cutting, is now applying usage caps on their data services, but continues to provide unlimited access to their video feeds. Comcast loses ~$38 in "contribution margin" ...
- 488
30
votes
Has there ever been a documented instance of the problem that net neutrality purports to solve?
As an example of something Net Neutrality rules have effectively blocked, Verizon lawyers admitted in court of law that given the opportunity, they probably would throttle or even completely block ...
- 3,946
29
votes
Accepted
Why don't many of the Republicans in the House and Senate believe in climate change?
I'm not American, and would only sometimes vote Republican if I were, so your question is not directly addressed to me. Nonetheless the debate about climate change crosses national borders so I ...
- 2,715
28
votes
Can the US government mandate what people are allowed to eat?
As I noted in a comment above, saying "let's just assume there was a way to do it" can't really be answered because how it's done matters to the question. The U.S. government has restricted ...
- 2,327
26
votes
Is there an EU law that prevents repair of electrical devices?
I don't think there's any one law or regulation that does this. Instead, we have old laws being used in new ways. While the Electronic Frontier Foundation is in the US, they describe the problem as ...
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26
votes
Accepted
Why does Ontario have a quota on milk production?
Canada has an agricultural policy called the Market Sharing Quota, which sets a national yearly milk production target. It's part of their broader framework for controlling supplies of dairy, poultry, ...
- 9,448
25
votes
Why don't many of the Republicans in the House and Senate believe in climate change?
There's a particularly important phenomenon at work here: things are harder to believe in if they're costly. For example, someone may say "I'm 100% sure my sportsball team will win that game," but ...
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25
votes
Have any public figures faced any consequences for breaking pandemic rules, especially their own?
New Zealand's health minister didn't face legal repercussions, but he tendered his resignation after driving his family 20 km to a beach during the first weekend of the first lockdown in April. This ...
- 1,315
24
votes
Accepted
How are GDPR fines actually enforced for US companies with no physical presence in the EU?
Your assumption of a US-EU treaty to enforce fines seems like it is one of two intended enforcement methods, the other being the required establishment of representatives to ensure non-EU entities ...
- 9,448
23
votes
What does Texas gain from keeping its electrical grid independent?
I'll point out here that the cheaper-than-average electricity prices that TX sees (according to the answer based on the Economist) is actually somewhat of a recent thing. Despite TX avoiding "the ...
- 126k
23
votes
Have any public figures faced any consequences for breaking pandemic rules, especially their own?
Roman Prymula, famous, scientifically active and prominent Czech epidemiologist, somewhat active in politics as well.
During the COVID pandemic, he first served as a head of the Central Crisis Board ...
- 1,268
22
votes
Why are Amex fees allowed in the European Union?
These are considered cards issued by three party schemes, from europa.eu:
Credit and debit cards issued by three party schemes (such as American Express and Diners Club), and business or corporate ...
JJJ♦
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20
votes
Accepted
Why did the EU Council also suggest homeopathic products to treat animals beside conventional drugs?
The current regulation 2018/848 has:
1.5.2.1. Where animals become sick or injured despite preventive measures to ensure animal health, they shall be treated immediately.
1.5.2.2. Disease shall ...
- 106k
20
votes
Why are Amex fees allowed in the European Union?
The explanation is somewhat simple. Regulation (EU) 2015/751 of 29 April 2015, which capped the interchange fees for four-party schemes like Visa and Mastercard, was according to a World Bank ...
- 126k
19
votes
Why is there so much fuss about an internet "fast lane" for a privileged few?
It might be a result of the edit, but your question appears to be missing a key element. Everything else you listed are things that individual people can pay more to get. The internet equivalent ...
- 23.6k
19
votes
Can the US government mandate what people are allowed to eat?
It is 100% established in law that the federal government has the power to ban the production and sale of unhealthy foods, such as bread made from flour laced with arsenic or chicken contaminated with ...
- 3,456
18
votes
Accepted
Why must Title II be applied universally federally?
As long as Title II is on the books, they don't have a choice -it must be applied to all common carriers.
The text of Title II explicitly says this:
It shall be unlawful for any common carrier to ...
- 23.6k
18
votes
Why does California seem to have much more aggressive Consumer Protection and Safety Legislation?
While I'm really not qualified to really answer the why (other than that a majority of California voters will accept these things), there are two factors that have made it possible.
First is the ...
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18
votes
Why does Ontario have a quota on milk production?
This article reports on remarks by two dairy farmers from Ontario in explanation of the advantages of the milk quota system.
The basic ideas are these.
Stability of supply
Stability of price
...
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