Comcast is testing a “new method” of tracking internet users — supposedly targeting “bandwith hogs.”
Comcast will start testing a new method for managing traffic on its network this week that targets heavy Internet users.
Starting Thursday, Comcast will test a new system that will throttle back or slow down traffic during times of congestion for heavy bandwidth users. The initial tests will be conducted in Chambersburg, Pa. and Warrenton, Va. Later this summer the company plans to expand testing to Colorado Springs, Colo.
So, for people specifically paying for the fast internet services Comcast claims to provide, their service will be purposely slowed down.
Now, to further combat the so called problem of some people “clogging” the tubes, Time Warner is proposing tiered pricing.
The way it works is that subscribers who go over their limit for uploading and downloading material will be charged $1 per gigabyte. The test will only apply to new customers in the test region. The tiered pricing will work this way for the Internet portion of subscription packages that also include phone or video use: At the low end, users will pay $29.95 per month for service at a speed of 768 kilobits per second, with a 5GB monthly cap. At the high end, users will pay $54.90 per month for service at 15 megabits per second, with a 40GB cap.
Are you surprised by this measure???? This is one of the things true Net Neutrality was fighting against. Before you say anything, think about what Jeff Jarvis points out here:
The AP reports (via PaidContent) that TW will charge subscribers in Beaumont, Texas $29.95 a month for slow service at 768 kilobits per second and a 5-gigabyte monthly cap up to $54.90 per month for 15 megabits per second and a 40-gigabyte cap; going over will cost them $1 per gig. For scale, the AP points out, a standard def movie is about 1.5 gigabytes and a high-definition movie is 6 to 8 gigs.
But, there is still a chance to save the internet and the free exchange of ideas, knowledge and information.
There is a bill going through Congress right now called H.R. 5997 that would protect the Internet from telecom companies. All it would do is make sure the Internet stays neutral. If you don’t believe me, you can read the full text here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-5994.
If you want to throw away the human race’s greatest accomplishment and go back to the 80’s, you can sit around and do nothing.
And, need I mention that the US is way behind in offering broadband services to all American’s?
Late last month, yet another global survey confirmed this, showing the U.S. to be more of an Internet backwater than a world leader. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Internet access and services in America have slid to 15th place among 30 developed nations, a drop from our 12th place ranking in 2006, and from fourth in 2001 when the OECD began its international survey.
In real terms this means Internet users in Japan pay little more than half the price (65 cents to the dollar) for an Internet connection that’s 20 times faster than what’s commonly available to people in the United States.
What are they thinking? Is it their business plan to force everyone to a different provider? Do they think that slower Internet is the future?
I had no idea this was going on- thanks for all the information. Your good deeds are done for the day! Wow! This is very disconcerting…
Until we have some solid net neutrality legislation in place, the consumers have no reason not to assume the worst case scenario. And just looking at the steps that are being taken right now, I can very easily see the end game.
I’ve recently taken up net neutrality as somewhat of a flagship issue after reading two different news stories this week about Time Warner and Comcast rolling out what I consider to be NN-hostile policies. Time Warner is trying out ‘metered’ usage and bandwidth caps (caps which seem insanely low considering the high usage of video these days), and now Comcast’s “protocol agnostic” bandwidth management policies (note that they are not called “content agnostic”). Now neither of these may be directly related to the issue of net neutrality in the sense that they do not appear on their face to give one content provider a notable advantage over another.
In both cases, however, there is ample room for abuse if we do not push Congress to enact regulations and oversight that prevents the telcos from abandoning their obligation to remain “common carriers”. I have tried to make the case throughout the blogosphere that absent any net neutrality regulation, metering and bandwidth caps will be the trojan horse through which they introduce the “slow lane” that goes to the heart of this issue.
If metered usage does end up becoming prevalent, people will absolutely hate it before too long (and most of us will have no other options). Without net neutrality, I believe that we will see the telcos introduce “preferred partner” content that will not be subject to these meters and caps. The consumers will have absolutely no say in which sites get this preferential treatment, but I can guarantee you that it will benefit the telocs more than the public at large.
Comcast and TWC will never outright prohibit users from going to any site they want, but any sort of preferential treatment such as the type I’ve described above is totally fair game without a rock solid set of laws protecting net neutrality.