Comcast about to get spanked.

:spank: :spank: :spank: I hope it's a good one.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080726/D925B1980.html

FCC poised to punish Comcast over Web blocking


Jul 26, 1:02 AM (ET)

By JOHN DUNBAR

WASHINGTON (AP) - A majority of members of the Federal Communications Commission have cast votes in favor of punishing Comcast Corp. for blocking subscribers' Internet traffic, an agency official said Friday.

Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, was accused of violating agency principles that guarantee customers open access to the Internet.

Three commissioners have voted in favor of an order reaching agreement with the finding, enough for a majority on the five-member commission. But the decision will not be final until all five members have cast their votes. The commission is scheduled to take up the issue at its Aug. 1 meeting.

The three votes in favor were Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein and Republican chairman Kevin Martin, who recommended the company be found in violation, according to the official, who asked not to be named because the vote was not yet final.


The potentially precedent-setting move stems from a complaint against Comcast Corp. that the company had blocked Internet traffic among users of a certain type of "file sharing" software that allows them to exchange large amounts of data.

I fight with them almost every day. One day I have lightening fast service. Then they disconnect me and when I get my service back, it's mud. Then the tech comes out and says, look how fast Disney loads. I don't care, I'm paying for 10 mb. I want somewhere in the vicinity.

I like having one bill. I may have to go back to Qwest anyway.

We have Dish for TV and Time warner for phone & internet, but I could have it on dish if I wante d to..

Upload is awful, it drops out which creates havoc when you're doing web work or doing any kind of p2p gaming, etc. At least it used to, I don't think that problem has been truly fixed. There's no excuse for it on cable at all. What makes me mad is they sold us more bandwidth, and we still aren't even getting the basic bandwidth we started with. Then they try to pass it off with "network traffic". Well don't sell me an extra service if you can't provide it. Gaa. I'll have to call on Monday and tell them we're right back where we started. It's gotten to be a "principle of the thing" with me. I didn't make them tell me they could provide 10 mb. If they sell it, they should provide it, and that's the bottom line.

It's just like an airline booking 110 tickets on a plane that has 100 seats. They should know exactly how much bandwidth they have to spare before they sell more.

Even if it's not perfect, it should beat my 26.4K dialup. How much do they charge, if I may ask (or if you remember)? I could get Comcast here, but they charge more than I am willing to pay, and I don't want to deal with Comcast.

This is not about blocking access to the web, but rather, Comcast has been filtering TORRENT downloading, which by some estimates, can account for 60% of internet traffic at peak times. Plenty of google-able studies show 1/3rd of all internet traffic for several years now is made up of Torrent packets.

A bit more info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/technology/26fcc.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

They claim they are within their rights by practicing reasonable network management. Vuze (which makes a bit torrent client) and other consumer groups disagree.

I have comcast and would be livid if they were blocking websites, but they're not. Let's be honest about what is being discussed here, though.

Furthermore, Comcast has been busted for DELAYING bit torrent traffic, and prioritizing other packets instead (like your email and web page requests) - not blocking.

That being said, I despise Comcast, and I filed a BBB complaint about them last year to get my $600 back they tried to steal from me, and I won! So I'm certainly no fan-boy (I.e., please don't flame me for expressing my opinion!)

Reasonable network management means you manage your network to provide the service you promised in your ads. It does not mean you cheap out and renege on your ad promises because you can't be bothered to pay your side of it. They can either eat the FCC punishment or be sued for deceptive practices.

I pay a buttload for high speed internet and NEVER get the speed they advertise. Im SICK of being jerked around by them. Bastards!

Things like these shenanigans by Comcast is one reason why. It's complicated to "fire" your ISP, when you pay for a bundled service with your cable TV and phone line.

I will never bundle. Well, never say never. But I don't plan on doing it. Being totally owned, communication-wise, by one company, is not something I'm comfortable with.

I would just go back to Qwest phone and internet, and make different tv arrangements. No problem.

That's great. I heard that the specific file sharing they blocked was the Bible. If it's not true, it
should be but I think it is.

Comcast = :dunce: