Heavy Internet users unplugged by US cable company, page 1
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4  >>
ATS Members have flagged this thread 8 times
Topic started on 9-9-2007 @ 02:10 AM by Beachcoma

Heavy Internet users unplugged by US cable company


www.physorg.com
Several Internet users in the United States have been unplugged by their service provider because they download too much, a press report said here Friday.

Cable Internet and entertainment provider Comcast "has punished some transgressors by cutting off their Internet service, arguing that excessive downloaders hog Internet capacity and slow down the network for other customers," the Washington Post reported.
(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
news.yahoo.com
afp.google.com
blog.thestar.com.my
asia.cnet.com

[edit on 9-9-2007 by UM_Gazz]


reply posted on 9-9-2007 @ 02:58 AM by Beachcoma
reply to post by Fett Pinkus


Because it is a breach of contract. Besides, not everything on BT is illegal. And what if they weren't using torrents? What if they were using FTP? I have acquaintances who work in music studios and they use FTP to transfer the raw WAV files. A typical 3 minute audio track is about 30-40MB. They have their bandwidth throttled down, too.


reply posted on 9-9-2007 @ 03:52 AM by FreeThinkerIdealist
reply to post by Fett Pinkus


BT ... BitTorrent ... have you been there? You might want to check out their site. BitTorrent.com ... guess what, you PAY for the movies and shows. It is NOT FREE. Well, some is ... they had that old classic Nosferatu as a free download ... but it is a LEGALLY FREE download.

Get you facts straight before you make all-encompassing statements. I am sure BitTorrent would love to hear your slander against their company, no?

You also realize, some of the torrent sites you sign up to, and pay a monthly fee to access the content ... you know, they have deals with the people who own them ... I guess for those who don't know, think iTunes and PodCast, but better quality and faster transfers ... but a bit more expensive.


Seriously. I pay for unlimited access. If I am sending home videos to my friends and family, and if I was OCD at taking videos of stuff (I like my fish, maybe I want to send a few hours of footage of him swimming around ) ... then I have that right to do so at whatever rate they promised me for as long as I want.

So if that is 8 Mbps (which is only 1 MBps ... which is about 18 minutes per GB at full speed) then I should have full access to that 24/7, that is my perrogative for the $50/month. Otherwise, why pay so much?

Really, for me, that example would have to be in reverse, since, my line is asymmetrical and can only upload at around 512 Kbps (67 KBps) ... it would take much, much longer for me to share videos than get some from my friend and family. Yes, people do that. In fact, we have Cox cable, and their high-speed ad shows grandparents sending videos to their grandkids online

You do also realize that some families have 3 or 4 computers hooked up, plus gaming machines, right? So, if a couple computers are occupied with online PC games, one is chatting with a webcam, the parental unit is surfing and downloading freeware programs, and another is on the 360 downloading movies bought with MS points, playing an online game with webcam ... they don't have the right to utilize bandwidth? You have to be kidding me.

I personally have two gaming systems online, a third capable, two computers connected ... I can imagine others have much more stuff hooked up than I do alone.

I guess you just assume that everyone is doing wrong, you justify the company violating their contract with the customer ... well, they should refund them if they cannot make the commitment. It is very sad you jump to a negative conclusion. No wonder the world is falling apart if you are calling people thieves without any right or evidence. Deny ignorance.


reply posted on 9-9-2007 @ 06:06 AM by malganis
Originally posted by FreeThinkerIdealist

BT ... BitTorrent ... have you been there? You might want to check out their site. BitTorrent.com ... guess what, you PAY for the movies and shows. It is NOT FREE. Well, some is ... they had that old classic Nosferatu as a free download ... but it is a LEGALLY FREE download.

Get you facts straight before you make all-encompassing statements. I am sure BitTorrent would love to hear your slander against their company, no?



Have you ever actually used BitTorrent for yourself? Trust me, you can use it to download movies/music/software illegally for free, as thousands of people do. It is a P2P file sharing client.



You do also realize that some families have 3 or 4 computers hooked up, plus gaming machines, right? So, if a couple computers are occupied with online PC games, one is chatting with a webcam, the parental unit is surfing and downloading freeware programs, and another is on the 360 downloading movies bought with MS points, playing an online game with webcam ... they don't have the right to utilize bandwidth? You have to be kidding me.


If a family had 3 or 4 computers all downloading heavily at the same time, the bandwidth would be split between them. Say if the family has a 20mbps connection and they are all using it, it would be split so that each computer would only be using 5mb anyway. So the maximum bandwidth the collective household could go at would be 20mb anyway, it would never go past that, no matter how many computers were in there.

Anyway if the household and the ISP have signed a contract saying that the household can use 20mb 24/7 unlimited, then they cant turn around and complain when the household uses it.


reply posted on 9-9-2007 @ 08:08 AM by Beachcoma
Originally posted by malganis
Come to think of it, I had the same problem a while ago. I was sharing a flat in which all of the flatmates were sharing a 10mb connection and NTL decided to limit our speed (it was very noticable and we did speed tests before and after). We called them and they came out with some half-arsed excuses about accidentally putting us on the wrong server or something, then they took the limiter off. Then after about a week they put it back on again so we just canceled our subscription.


It wouldn't be such a problem for me if we (as in the people of Malaysia) had a choice of different ISPs. But in this country, TM Net is a virtual monopoly. Fortunately we are not completely apathetic yet. So after we, the consumers, threatened a class action law suit, the ISP made a compromise and throttled down the bandwidth only during the day -- at least until they upgrade their total bandwidth. If no improvements are made by the time promised, TM Net will see us in court.

From what I can gather, Comcast is the among the largest ISP in the US. And the US is a large country. So I'm guessing in certain areas, they're the only ISP. Hence I can relate to the issue. Perhaps you people in the States can band together and threaten a class action suit?

Don't let them get away with it, or they'll be tempted to repeat it on a wider scale. By then it would be too late. Then the proposed "tiered services" will become more attractive to consumers who don't know their rights. Then we'd see the internet being less open and more clustered. Information would be controlled again.

It's just what the NWO wants.


reply posted on 9-9-2007 @ 08:17 AM by UofCinLA
Yeah peeps - don't trust what the contract is called, you have to read the fine print.... Not most but ALL providers have clauses to prevent abuse in there - call it evil and wrong but it is in there. Most if not all also have more expensive plans for "commercial" use, etc. Devil is in the details and you need to read those TOS pages and not simply clicky on the "agree" button....

Example - grandma and grandpa smith have signed up and use their service off and on during the day like most normal people. Up the street, some enterprising porn producer wannabe has the same service and has 25 servers going at wire speed. I think we can see that the actual resources consumed are far different and the providers can and do want to catch those folks that are heavy users of the system and make them pay accordingly.

Example 2 - you are a provider and have bought a 100Mbs line for 2000/mo wholesale. You want to offer a 10Mbs service. If 10 people use that line full bore wire speed their monthly would have to be at minimum in the 200/mo range. Through the magic of "normal" variable use that most users exhibit, you can actually get more like 100 people on that line and charge something like 20+/mo. If just a few people max their use all the time, you can see the problem that will ensue.... Those heavy users are taking more than their "fair" share of that reduced price service ("because I can") and that's what the little read clauses in the actual contract terms specify if you read closely.

Disclosure - I do not work for any provider, but I did sell and install carrier grade NMS monitoring systems that the providers used to manage and catch this stuff - sorry.... I understand the frustrations but that is how things work in the real world where things do cost money. You may think the providers gouge but I can assure you the margins are not that great and it's only the volume that generates any meaningful profits for providers....
Pages: <<  1    2    3    4  >>    ^^TOP^^



Russian scientists reach buried Antarctic Lake Vostok
  Posted 3 days ago with 81 member flags
Monsanto quits as GM results announced (EUROPE)
  Posted 4 days ago with 72 member flags
Strange noises reported around North Battleford
  Posted 15 days ago with 67 member flags
Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel
  Posted 3 days ago with 48 member flags
Is it morally wrong to take a life? Not really, say bioethicists
  Posted 10 days ago with 37 member flags