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A reminder in the age of the Fediverse: if you're not the customer, you're still the product.
(slrpnk.net)
OP was taking about Tumblr, but I think it applies even more to the Fediverse: users need to develop an ethos of paying to support the sites they use. Otherwise advertisers pay the bills and call the shots.
No, the reason why Latvia has a great and cheap internet is because Latvia didn't have any regulations for a very long time. This allowed small groups of people to go to the roofs, install their equipment there and throw cables between buildings with zero resistance from either people or government. I know it because I was there, working at two ISPs in the early 2000-s.
This complete lack of regulation created a very competitive market where literally every high schooler could create an ISP and run a successful business.
Also state owned Lattelecom didn't have shit until it was too late. They were only providing regular 10-18Mbit DSL until 2013 if I remember correctly.
Fuck government involvement!
Latvia has the Competition Law which prevents monopolies and anticompetitive business practices. Government involvement is literally the only reason Latvia has good internet.
Lack of government involvement results in what happened in the US where a few large ISPs buying up all the others leading to a total lack of competition or innovation.
Fuck the "free market" myth.
WTF are you talking about, lol?