Mark Cuban Still Has Absolutely No Idea How Net Neutrality Works

from the double-down-on-misunderstanding dept

To be very clear, there are numerous subjects Mark Cuban has a very solid understanding of, ranging from his support of patent reform and the benefits of improving antiquated film release windows to highlighting the SEC's disdain for the 14th and 4th Amendments during his fight over insider trading allegations. But when it comes to net neutrality, modern telecom competition, and the problems caused by letting unchecked duopolists like Comcast run amok, Cuban has pretty consistently made it abundantly clear he has absolutely no earthly idea what he's talking about.

The latest case in point, Cuban trotted out this little gem last week while public outrage at the FCC's grotesque handout to the telecom sector was peaking:

Do #NetNeutraility proponents realize that continuing the rules as is effectively puts @realDonaldTrump in charge of the Internet and it's future ? — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 22, 2017

After taking a pretty severe beating on Twitter, Cuban subsequently doubled down, proclaiming that net neutrality should be killed because, you know, nipplegate happened thirteen years ago:

Do you want @realDonaldTrump and the same organization that felt the need to rule on and take 8 years to evaluate Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction in charge of the internet ? Here is why I don't :https://t.co/NDsUmFYue9 — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 22, 2017

So look, if you've read our primer on net neutrality or paid attention to our coverage of this subject for the last decade, you should know by now that net neutrality violations are just a symptom of the disease that is a lack of competition in the broadband sector. Net neutrality rules were a temporary, imperfect solution to the fact that nobody in either party seriously wants to address this problem because it would stop campaign contributions from flowing. As a result, our state and federal legislative system is systemically infected by lawmakers willing to sell out the public and the internet for some pocket change.

The result of this isn't pretty. AT&T and Verizon enjoy monopoly control over cell tower backhaul and business data services (BDS). Cable companies like Comcast enjoy a growing monopoly over fixed-line broadband because telcos aka "the market" are refusing to invest in rural and second-tier urban markets. With no competition and apathetic regulators, we've witnessed privacy infractions, net neutrality violations, legendarily-awful customer service, deployment redlining, and endless price hikes (again, all just symptoms of a lack of competition and regulatory capture) time, and time, and time again.

This isn't magically fixed by gutting some modest consumer protections. And keeping net neutrality intact certainly doesn't "put Donald Trump in control of the Internet." There's simply no logical basis for that claim. In fact, passing net neutrality rules is a perfect example of one of the few times over the last twenty years that the FCC actually listened to consumers and was willing to stand up to the nation's powerful telecom duopoly. Punishing them for this based entirely on your gut feelings and misunderstanding of how the telecom sector works only helps ensure that won't be happening again anytime soon.

Cuban (who has sidelined as a commercial pitchman for AT&T), subsequently tried to clarify that the real threat to the internet isn't lumbering telecom monopolies, but Apple and Google app stores:

Let's be clear on NN.

1. No ISP can mess with anything that impacts Apple or Google. Both control the app stores/hardware and operating systems which control the mobile universe (the fastest growing segment of the net and the future w 5g) — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 26, 2017

This idea that the real "neutrality problem" is Google and Apple ("search neutrality" or "app store neutrality") has long been an ISP-driven bogeyman we've deflated time and time again. Users have a choice not to use the Google or Android app stores or devices. They have a choice of search engines. But in telecom, there is no choice. If you're lucky, you have a choice of a lumbering cable company or a telco that refuses to upgrade its network. Usually they're engaged in non-price competition because, again, we've let them dictate state and federal protectionism for a generation.

Cuban is part of a subset of folks for whom net neutrality challenges their belief that all regulation is automatically always bad and the government is entirely incapable of ever doing good. The problem is that's not only overly simplistic (it prevents you from actually weighing the merits of each instance of regulation intelligently), it doesn't really work in the telecom sector. If you obliterated the FCC tomorrow, you'd still be stuck with a lumbering monopoly with a stranglehold over the last mile. A stranglehold that bipartisan corruption on the state and federal level would ensure would never be threatened by disruption or innovation.

Net neutrality protects consumers, small businesses, and startups until we can find a way to drive more competition to the market. Some (including Cuban) seem to labor under the belief that advancements in wireless will have us all swimming in dirt-cheap connectivity in no time, making net neutrality irrelevant. Except wireless connectivity is spotty, carriers are booting users off these networks due to low ROI, these connections are usually capped, throttled and expensive, and again, AT&T and Verizon have a monopoly on the backhaul market feeding it all (but don't worry, Trump's FCC is busy protecting that monopoly, too).

You can get rid of net neutrality rules if you first embrace policies that actually drive broadband competition. But we're not doing that. Under Trump's FCC, Ajit Pai is actually busy lowering the base definition of broadband to try and obfuscate this lack of competition. Folks like Pai aren't even capable of admitting there's a problem, making the idea that the former Verizon lawyer wants to fix the problem preposterous. Meanwhile Cuban has been an outspoken Trump critic; are we to presume that Trump magically, mystically got this right? 20 million consumers don't think so.

This isn't the first time we've been over all this. I made many of the same points back in 2014 when Cuban was busy telling anybody who'd listen that net neutrality rules would destroy the internet and prevent sick people from getting necessary medical care (both, again, being lazy canards circulated by ISP lobbyists). Check out the last paragraph of this 2014 post for some unintentional, unfortunate clairvoyance on my part.

It's disappointing that Cuban isn't interested in listening to the countless experts like the EFF telling him that net neutrality rules are incredibly important -- especially for the kind of small businesses Cuban used to represent. It's equally unfortunate that folks that look up to Cuban for guidance are being told to root against their own best self interests -- and to support a Trump agenda item that may just be the most unpopular decision in tech policy history.

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Filed Under: broadband, competition, fcc, mark cuban, net neutrality