Broadband cap limits coming

[jturning]

I guess this is big for the cable companies because they're offering fast services that encourage you to do more, and they're not telecoms with lots of network capacity. Some companies quoted in the article have low limits. I think this will drive people to the telecoms DSL services. Hopefully the telecoms won't follow, but use this as a way to differentiate themselves from cable.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10327543?source=rss

Comcast to make monthly Internet use cap official

Associated Press
Article Launched: 08/28/2008 03:50:13 PM PDT

NEW YORK — Comcast, the nation's second-largest Internet service provider, Thursday said it would set an official limit on the amount of data subscribers can download and upload each month.

On Oct. 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250 gigabytes of traffic per month, the company announced on its Web site.

Comcast has already reserved the right to cut off subscribers who use too much bandwidth each month, without specifying exactly what constitutes excessive use.

"We've listened to feedback from our customers who asked that we provide a specific threshold for data usage and this would help them understand the amount of usage that would qualify as excessive," the company said in a statement on its Web site.

Customers who go over the limit are contacted by the company and asked to curb their usage.

"We know from experience the vast majority of customers we ask to curb usage do so voluntarily," the company said.

Comcast floated the idea of a 250 gigabyte cap in May and mentioned then that it might charge users $15 for every 10 gigabytes they go over, but the overage fee was missing in Thursday's announcement.

Curbing the top users is necessary to keep the network fast and responsive for other users, Comcast has said.

Comcast stressed that the bandwidth cap is far above the median monthly usage of its customers, which 2 to 3 gigabytes.

Very few subscribers use more than 250 gigabytes, it said. A user could download 125 standard-definition movies, about four per day, before hitting the limit.

The cap is also above those of some other ISPs. Cox Communications' monthly caps vary from 5 gigabytes to 75 gigabytes depending the subscriber's plan. Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing caps between 5 gigabytes and 40 gigabytes in one market. Frontier Communications Co., a phone company, plans to start charging extra for use of more than 5 gigabytes per month.

[eddie]

I called comcast about it and was told it was a government rule. I told the tech he was full of it. He relented and then asked me where I got the info. I told him from his own site. He hemmed and hawed and then said we were in a different district from New York and they had no plans for it here. Then all of a sudden he started talking about how 250 gigs was more than enough for most people. Comcast is so full of it. The have benn cutting back channels on the non digital side and converting them to digital. So much for their bs about supporting non-digital people. I did not ask him about that. Don't trust Comcast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[allix]

We have a few isps like that too, as well traffic shaping ...

[LinuxMint-4]

There could be a class action lawsuit on these ISP cap restrictions. In theory since the internet can be looked at in one sense as commerce. Furthermore since the internet knows boundaries, one could view the internet as international commerce. Restricting commerce via caps and usage could be construed as unlawful, as the caps could restrict trade. The internet commerce is Billions of dollars in potential revenue, restricting that revenue potential due to a company policy (Scamcast), could result in a loss or a potential loss to companies (Netflix, Napster,Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, I-Tunes...just to name a few) ...there lies the theory for the basis for a class action.

It could be comparable to a town restricting road usage where you are only allowed to travel 10 times on that road per month and no more. Some other thoughts....What if you needed a T1 line from Scamcast? Would you still be restricted to 250 GB per month? Would it be possible to even get a T1 line from them? Or is that only available to DSL customers? There is still another issue here, thats privacy. If Scamcast is monitoring your usage, then what else are they monitoring? And to what extent? Where is the EFF on this matter?