As this piece in Bits shows, we in the U.S. are letting non-competitive near-monopoly arrangements between cable companies and broadband providers hold back technical innovation,  intellectual commerce, and business commerce. Cable companies need to be regulated like common carriers, where they control the “tube” but *not* the content that goes on the internet. This kind of sweetheart deal, which lobbyists from these mega-corporations are able to push legislators into, will destroy any advantage the U.S. might have in innovation online and in what will clearly be one of the major pillars of the global economy in the 21st century.

Competition, or the lack of it, goes a long way to explaining why the fees are higher in the United States. There is less competition in the United States than in many other countries. Broadband already has the highest profit margins of any product cable companies offer. Like any profit-maximizing business would do, they set prices in relation to other providers and market demand rather than based on costs.

via World’s Fastest Broadband at $20 Per Home – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com.

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