These companies are NOT public utilities--they are private, giant corporations. Funny how many of the same people who rail against big corporations and the things they do are in love with this particular group of predatory mega giants. Go figure. Their products and services initially seemed less than useful, and appear to be growing increasingly so. Plus, their actions towards their users appear ever-increasingly predatory and hostile. A poor long-term business model, to say the least, but they are free to do so. Not really worth using any of them. One day, we'll probably look back at the hyper-enthrallment with this stuff and wonder what all the fuss was about--we'll have moved on to better uses, and these current Goliaths will lay upon the ash-heap of business history, as many giants before have so gone. If GTS behaved the ways shown in the expose, many would abandon this service. As it is, he appears reasonable while still running his business. Much appreciated, and kudos.

(03-05-2019 10:09 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  These companies are NOT public utilities--they are private, giant corporations. Funny how many of the same people who rail against big corporations and the things they do are in love with this particular group of predatory mega giants. Go figure. Their products and services initially seemed less than useful, and appear to be growing increasingly so. Plus, their actions towards their users appear ever-increasingly predatory and hostile. A poor long-term business model, to say the least, but they are free to do so. Not really worth using any of them. One day, we'll probably look back at the hyper-enthrallment with this stuff and wonder what all the fuss was about--we'll have moved on to better uses, and these current Goliaths will lay upon the ash-heap of business history, as many giants before have so gone. If GTS behaved the ways shown in the expose, many would abandon this service. As it is, he appears reasonable while still running his business. Much appreciated, and kudos.

While I agree with your sentiments, the fact is that facebook, twitter, and the like are at this point the place where the majority of discourse and dialog take place in our world.
It is for this reason that many people feel that they should be treated like utilities. The Railroad and Telephone system was once private industry but once their control and reach hit a certain point life became dependent on them. And at that point they became classified as utilities and regulations were put in place. In another 100 years, the internet will be treated as a utility, just as the telephone is now but wasn't 100 years ago.

The question is... how much power and control will these companies swallow up before that happens. Right now they have the ability to control and shape the entire public dialog around politics as well as anything else they want simply by enforcing their own ideological wishes.

This kind of power should only be held by people who are are responsible to the citizenry through the democratic process.