Quoted from Who-Dey:What about this though. I really hope that I don't sound stupid here but do IF the cable companies own and has invested their money into all of the equipment and stuff to provide the internet service and netflix and amazon etc is using their service and it's hurting their tv business, why wouldn't they have the right to stop them in some way or another?
I mean you can't walk in McDonald's and start using their equipment to make hamburgers and french fries to put them out of business right? You can't set up shop inside Wal Mart and start selling products etc. I know it's a wild comparison but it's kind of the same thing seems like.
I don't want my internet restricted no more than anyone else believe me, but I'm just trying to look at the big picture here and figure this out. Am I missing something here?
Yes, you're missing something...
You ORDER a hamburger at McDonald's, and PAY them for your food
McDonald's had to invest in the equipment to deliver a product (hamburger) you want to buy.
You ORDER internet service from your ISP, and PAY them for that service for your bill.
Comcast had to invest in equipment to deliver a product (internet service) you wanted to buy.
Netflix and Amazon are also paying their ISP's to connect them to the internet.
The ISP's they use are getting paid for the use of their equipment.
You, and Netflix, are paying for the service already and are NOT using it for free like you analogy implies.
Or to put it another way:
Just because ATT, the telephone company, also owns Direct TV, doesn't mean that they should be allowed to BLOCK a telephone call I make to Dish Network to order service; even if redirecting or blocking my call to Dish could help them sell me on Direct TV.
