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It has been speculated that companies such as Comcast have not only been throttling p2p, but keeping a list of sites which they deem lower priority. If you go to such a site it will run slower than a higher priority site. This is evident with unknown sites that offer streaming media. Thus effectively managing overall system bandwidth.
There is also an ongoing battle between VOIP services and ISP's. In some countries the ports that are used by such services are blocked entirely.
Now with talks of metering bandwidth by ISP's, we as a community, have a greater foe to face. I believe it boils down to a simple grab for cash by an already bloated and selfish industry.

When Comcast bought up large systems to become the largest Cable MSO, it did not buy the Internet. Comcast has no right to change how the Internet works -- not one byte of it.

How the world-wide Internet works is defined by all of us, through our participation and trust in the Internet Society and the Internet Engineering Task Force. To ensure interoperability and access for all, changes must be carefully deliberated and standardized there. The responsibility of operating the Internet in accordance with those standards is entrusted to companies providing access to it. It's not Comcast's job to change how the Internet works nor can it decide who or what gets preference upon it.

I haven't seen anything other than the press reports about something to be circulated around the FCC. I am hopeful that when the details are released that it serves to preserve and protect the Internet from those who would abuse their power and change it.

Comcast had several chances to come clean and to do right. It's important now that the FCC set this precedent to keep further abuses of power in check.

I have a number of friends whose ISP is Broadstripe. They have reported bandwidth throttling through Broadstripe as well. Video sites like Hulu and others don't work--the videos aren't getting through the pipe. These other ISPs who do this & don't tell their customers about it should be investigated as well.

The only way companies like Comcast can punished by the FCC is by allowing other ISP's and service providers into their terriorties and allow them to provide similar services like Comcast. if you examine what an ISP charges for it's services when there are limited providers. It allows a higher cost to consumers, but open up it service area to othr companies and the competitions spur's lower cost and better service. I don't know about our other readers, but I am fed up with limited options availible to me and wish I could get lower cost for internet and cable, than just having one choice or nothing at all!

"Now with talks of metering bandwidth by ISP's, we as a community, have a greater foe to face. I believe it boils down to a simple grab for cash by an already bloated and selfish industry."

Why? Bandwidth is finite. Everyone wants fully unlimited access for $5/month, it isn't going to happen.

I think ISP's should go to a metered system, you pay for what you use.

I've been on satellite networks where a small number of users (less than 100) used close to 50% of the total bandwidth. Their usage affected my performance. I don't blame the users, the ISP should have been charging by usage.

Once it happens, and it will, it will be interesting to see how much overall Internet traffice declines.

I pay ALOT more than $5.00 a month through Concast for my internet. Least to mention, you can't get just the internet service from them. You have to first subscribe to the basic cable service! THEN you can stack on internet. So here I am with dish network and cable just so I can have internet. I prefer the dish because of the channel lineup that it offers. Many of which aren't available on the local cable network regaurdless of what package. The Comcast bill alone is $85.00 a month. That's without thier modem or converter box. Just the basic cable and internet.

You'll be whining when you start sending high quality pictures of the kids to relatives and get that huge bill. It's just like the cell phone providers. Sure bandwidth is finite. You can only fit so many cars on the road too. It's all a matter of traffic management.

Hey Marco, It is already happening. Until about mid '06, Comcast was the only game in town. Sure, there was DSL from Verizon, IF you lived close enough to get it. Anyway, Verizon went after Comcast by building a Fiber Optics system. Comcast had a screaming fit and tried their damndest to block it but Verizon prevailed and we now have a choice, although in my opinion it isn't really a choice as Fiber offers a lot more than cable AND no bandwidth issues. Verizon just upgraded their speed packages. Mine was 15 mbps down and 2 mbps up and it has been upgraded to 20 down and 5 up. It isn't automatic though. You have to call Verizon and have them upgrade it, which I haven't as yet. The internet, TV, and Phone ( no long distance charges within the US) is About $133 per mo. They have an internet package that is 50 mbps down and 20mbps up for $89.95 per mo. in NY and VA ( $139.95 elsewhere). With the advent of fiber the phone companies are getting on the act, and limiting and cable companies are finding it more and more difficult to limit an area to a single franchise with them holding the franchise. This good for the consumers, not so good for the cable industry. Finally the FCC has done something in the interest of the consumer as long as it has some teeth in it and is really punitive. coastie65

In view of the recent discusion, the FCC should open the lines to all company that want to provide service to an area ,and not let the local government make the deal that benefit them! the fact that some people think have the choice between two service provider as a choice , your only fooloing yourself. our current system is nothing more than a controlled monopoly, and the only winners are the government and the service provider that have the given area of service.

Hey Marco, In this area Verizon did have to open their lines. There is at least one Phone Company ( Cavalier ) that has very little infrastructure as they use Verizon's lines to provide service and Verizon maintains the lines. Cavalier does run the drop from the line to the house but that is it, plus the box, jacks, and inside wiring. They even use Verizon's DSL although they do not have access to the fiber optics system and are not likely to get it. With Verizon, if I opt out of their FiOS TV and go back to DirecTV, I will get a $6 per mo. discount from DirecTV because I have Verizon. That is part of Verizon's TV package, you can choose between FiOS TV and DirecTV on the dish. It hasn't had much effect on Comcast, as they continue with their huge annual rate increases even while their customer base shrinks in this area. Verizon's customer service attitude is much much better than Comcasts to be sure. I have seen what happens with multiple providers and Comcast is losing the fight. coastie65

if you are paying for inlimited badwith thats what you should be getting. dsl is not having a speed problem why is cable. easy they don't wnat to upgrade lines that are fine for tv but once you get your phone and i-net on them they now have issues. they had to replace all the lines on my street due to there age.

I use to have comcast, but I had to let them go, because of their high prices and their nasty attitude. I now don't pay anything for tv services (legally), which is to always be free. I can watch tv anywhere I go, as long as I have a dsl connection.We all must start working together against these criminals, type companies.

Comcast is a private (income producing for shareholders) company and they can pretty much do anything they want regarding pricing. We, on the other hand, can tell them to go to Hxxx if we want and not buy their service. In some cases, this can prove a hardship; however, that is when you approach your elected officials that deal with Comcast and, in a round about way, ask them if they like representing the city-county-XXXX. When there is no choice for hi-speed internet, that is the only recourse.

I had major problems with Comcast up until about a year ago. I now get over 1 Mb/sec download (seldom do any uploads). Just for the heck of it, I tried DSL and subscribed to the fastest service they offered which they claimed to be 6 Mb. It paled in comparison.

Most people will not have a problem paying for excessive use of the network. If a basic package was for 25MB/ month, most people would not even closely approach that. In most other activities we perform, more performance costs more (check out the price difference between a BMW 325i and 330i) - same body and interior).

my parents are the norm when it somes to the internet and high speed they made the jump from dialup when they had to. my dad plays online poker and my mom will do e-mail and look stuff up on the web. the use almost 400mb on a light month. on a January they used 3gb they where watching tv over the web. I don't see how some one with photos and all that can only use 25mb a month. i use 1-6gb a month. One time it was 20gb when I was into online gaming and had a lot of lan partys. most of the people I know can'd use less then 4gb a month.

Aero: I think that the reason that you have to pay for basic TV(analog) is because they can't block it out and just give you the internet. I encountered this too but it didn't make any difference, I was using it that way before they began the offer. I go back the the very first offer of broadband when it was under TCI and we used [EXCITE@HOME]. EXCITE still exists but @home doesn't, they pulled the plug. The service then went to ATT Broadband and then to Comcast. A lot has changed and I'm sure there will be many more in the future. My first experience was with the old dial up modems at 1200 Baud and bulletin boards. A far cry from the first terminal services that were 300 Baud on the old Teletype equipment. The days of punched paper tape are gone.

The Cable went through a few hands here too. Started as Continental Cablevision, then went to Media One, then AT&T Broadband, and finally Comcast. Media One did upgrade the build and added some fiber in spots and changed the taps on the lines but that is the extent of any upgrading. To the poster who said that Comcast was a Private Company, far from it. If Stock has been publicly issued and it is listed on the exchange, than it is a "publicly owned" company.

DA!

I just had an epiphany! Or a mini stroke, wait....no the former! Why not petition whatever governing body necessary, to make communications services such as cable a utility? Then they would be subject to the same deregulation laws that Ma Bell and the nations electrical companies are. The infrastructure would HAVE to be leased out, at a reasonable rate, to whatever competition wanted to use it.Why di o flll nummb./?

Up here , we call it Spying on your customers.



Comcast has been doing it for quite some time



and it is well documented . What more do youneed?





FLASHORN. !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

Coastie: Upgrades, we've had quite a few but luckily they haven't caused any interuptions. Comcast has pulled fibre out to major areas and have mounted gateways on poles. I get super speeds and never noticed any slowdowns. Have done a few large downloads (12 GB) at close to 1.5 GB speeds. that goes like a flash. I only pay for regular service. ATT has pulled fibre throughout the neighborhood too, so I anticipate some good competition when I make the call in September to continue their bundle at the same price or I'll tell them I'm going to ATT.

Hey mjd, It didn't work here. After Verizon rolled out their FiOS, Comcast pulled out some fancy deals to get you locked in to a contract in which you ended up paying their high rates after a period of time. If you wanted to switch to FiOS, you had to pay an early termination, which was high to discourage this. The competition hasn't helped as far as Comcast bringing down their prices, or with the service. My Neighbors just terminated their Comcast service and went to FiOS, as they were having way too many problems with Comcast's wireless. I guess Comcast's cocky attitude will be their ultimate downfall. coastie