Posted on 12/01/2010 8:57:47 AM PST by tricksy
Network neutrality is a simple concept: ISPs shouldn't play favorites with the content that goes over their parts of the Internet. It's a concept that harks back to the Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) in 1991 when the first Internet carries agreed to share connections equally with each other. Although CIX is now largely forgotten, it's what started the Internet on its way from a backwater for researchers and schools to the omnipresent network in which we live, work, and play today.
Now, Comcast, appears to be the first major ISP to break that old CIX rule of network neutrality. Level 3 Communications, one of Netflix's content delivery network (CDN) partners has accused Comcast of charging Level 3 extra fees for carrying Netflix's movies.
Thomas Stortz, Chief Legal Officer of Level 3, wrote that out of the blue "On November 19, 2010, Comcast informed Level 3 that, for the first time, it will demand a recurring fee from Level 3 to transmit Internet online movies and other content to Comcast's customers who request such content. By taking this action, Comcast is effectively putting up a toll booth at the borders of its broadband Internet access network, enabling it to unilaterally decide how much to charge for content which competes with its own cable TV and Xfinity-delivered content...."
...Who is asking for all that Level 3/Netflix traffic? Comcast's own customers, of course. The last thing Comcast wants is to charge its customers more. But, if the company can force the expense on Level 3, and from them to Netflix, then Netflix will be the one in trouble with customers, not Comcast.
I call a foul on Comcast....
(Excerpt) Read more at zdnet.com ...
Hooray for Comcast!
Make money! Make Money! Make Money! Hooray!
The provider of the fat data stream should pay the price, it makes sense, just as any shipper pays the freight carried over a common carrier — not the recipient. That is, some freight carriers do bill COD, including freight charges, but most find that not-profitable. COD delivery is rare these days. And NO BUSINESS ships $3 items COD. That’s stupid.
I’m a customer of a different data carrier, but I don’t do netflix over the web. I think I’ve done one or two on-demand FIOS movies when I was recuperating from major surgery at home. Why should I have to pay for the “feed me” lazy habits that demand constant fat data feeds into the homes of bums? Even if they ain’t bums, why should my service be degraded?
Why not just charge customers for the bandwidth they use?
This isn’t rocket science.
Look yourself in the mirror, hard, and reform your ways.
Comcast already does that -- you pay more for a faster net connection.
Comcast is a bunch of crooks that wants to be paid twice for providing the same service.
If the Post Office has been dropping other people's internet access bills into your mail, you ought to complain to the Post Office. At the very least, you should stop paying them yourself (as you evidently have been doing until now, inasmuch as you have just started to complain about the unfairness of it).
Even if they ain’t bums, why should my service be degraded?
If your internet service is degraded, you might want to complain to your internet service provider.
I don’t mean available bandwidth, I mean bandwidth actually used.
I need home connectivity for online banking and VPN to the office. I estimate less than 50 MB up/down a day average. But I’m paying the same rate as everyone else in my service class, including those who stream movies and backup to the cloud.
Charge me for what I use, like most other utilities do.
In phone and cell phone plans they use up to X minutes/texts/databytes and after that go to per unit charges.
So yeah, they could that. But as I know from my own experience a sudden surge in billable minutes causes great client distress. In my case I missed a change THE TIME OF DAY in when cell minutes went from free to billed.
In such cases the custom is for a carrier to send out a special "tariff notifier", a notice to a client that usage or rate changes significantly exceeds prior billings for that client. At least that was my argument, and they ended up reducing my big huge surprise bill to 1/4 of what it was, and then they added a significant "good customer" rebate, so I actually netted out plus on that month.
? I can’t understand how my words could be taken to say anything close to what you suggest. I’m talking about me, Mr. low-medium Bandwidth, being charged at rates burdened by the slovenly fat usage habits of welfare or pension queens (of either sexuality) downloading mega data streams of video. That’s what “fat datafeed” means. Nothing to do with the US Postal Service.
What someone else does with their own internet connection is none of your concern.
I don’t believe you have a CATV modem, or you don’t understand what you’re talking about, since only Verizon offers FIOS right now and I know for a fact that you can’t lag FIOS without using up some serious server space.
Long story short, while I agree with you that Comcast should be able to do and charge whatever they want with their network, I would also suggest that you need to educate yourself on how broadband actually works before making yourself look foolish again.
Just for the record, I was one of the first FIOS engineers that Verizon assigned to the Virginia build and was involved in the project from 2005 until June of this year, so I do know a bit about this subject.
Sorry, I simply can’t understand what you mean in that reply.
Your reading comprehension skills seem to be impaired. And I also suspect you overestimate your own nunchuck skills and broadband skills, Napoleon.
I think there is a difference between the concept that you pay for the service plan you have with your ISP - which is a voluntary economic relationship based on use- and the concept that the general infrastructure with its concomitant investments past and future in technology is a public utility akin to the interstate highway system.
Did you notice that everyone else in the thread is crazy and you’re the only sane one here? Quick, hide before the black helicopters show up again!
Seriously, when you have actually designed a FIOS project and understand that heavy traffic can’t lag it because each customer gets their own dedicated fiber, on both the F1 and F2 sides all the way back to the office, then you can tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.
When you can tell me about the dB loss parameters of a Corning 1X16 splitter versus the Corning 2X32 or Corning 2X16 splitters and what range brackets they’re best used for, then you can lecture me sparky.
When you have mastered the layout and design proceedures necessary to install multiple VATS cables off of a single 288F Trunk, then you can speak down to me.
Until that time, I suggest you STFU and listen to those who do know what the hell they’re talking about.
FIOS cannot be lagged by heavy traffic on the net. Period. Full Stop.
Huh? In my community, Comcast is a regulated monopoly, granted exclusive access to an area in exchange for having their fees and services overseen by a public commission.
The fact that this commission is a lap dog to Comcast, and approves whatever they ask, does not change the fact that public approval is needed.
Your problem isn’t with the people using higher bandwidth. Your problem is with the company you are buying internet service from. You want them to charge you less money because you use less service; you want them to ensure your service meets the requirements of the plan you are paying for.
You should complain to your service provider, and ask them to provide a tier of service that meets your needs. If they don’t, you should look around for a company that will, and by switching, send a message to your provider that they need to be more customer-oriented.
The only reason you would be “burdened” by usage habits of others is if you contracted with a socialist/communist internet provider who lived by the rule that everybody should pay the same and get whatever service they want.
Comcast is apparently running their business on an “all-you-can-eat-buffet” model. People who don’t like paying more when they eat less because the typical “all-you-can-eat” customer is a fat slob, find other restaurants to buy their meals.
I’m not sure about where you’re located at, but network regulation is governed, in large part, by the FCC. There are some States that don’t submit to the FCC regulations as they provide their own regulations, but it’s hard to say what’s going on where you’re at without knowing for sure the State.
Did I say you were crazy? NO!
Only that you can’t read very well. Oh, and that as an engineer you got gut-stuck in the mud of lack of perspective for over-focus on some set of details. I do that too, all the time, fwiw. A hammer makes all jobs nail-centric.
That's fine and I did. In my area we have choices. Damn the regulations, fwtw.
If you use low bandwidth, buy the slow connection. If somebody else uses high bandwidth, they'll presumably pay more for the fast connection. I have no idea what you're whining about.
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