…And So It Begins…Comcast implements bandwidth cap
We all knew it was just going to be a matter of time, as some Comcast users (especially lovers of the p2p) suspected, then confirmed Comcast had been thwarting their connections during bouts of heavy usage.
As I recall, Comcast initially responded by denying the reports…until they finally confessed to doing so after getting sweat from the FCC.
To give this act some context, back in January, Time Warner Cable went the way of the Dodo and implemented a cap in test areas. Not much feedback has been reported from these victims yet, but that makes sense, as the new billing in those select areas only went into effect this month.
Ladies and gentleman, it would seem the bandwidth restriction arms race has officially started. While TWC is testing caps of 40GB/month, Comcast is starting off by offering their users a monthly cap of 250GB. Hmmm…by comparison to TWC, Comcast’s cap sounds rather generous and perhaps innocuous, right?
Au contraire. Some folks who practice the ancient art of critical thinking have some very strong opinions on the idea of bandwidth caps altogether, especially considering we’re in the dawn of streaming HD video.
There are serious questions such as, how are customers expected to meter their bandwidth so that they can make sure they’ve budgeted their usage accordingly? As I understand it, Comcast offers no current solution.
Will Comcast start their own VOD/PPV IPTV based service wherein it will be exempt from the cap, thereby giving you the incentive to only buy content through them? Would that be even legal? Ah, so many questions.
Comcast claims the majority of their users use less than 3G per month and that this tactic is soley designed to target the pirates and prevent abuse by the “torrenters” and “matroska hounds”.
Well, as online video continues to explode and stream into our homes, were going to need the Nile and not a tolled, filtered conveyer belt. For folks prone to using file sharing apps and networked household HD video hardware (i.e. Slingbox, Roku, Xbox 360, Apple TV), that 250GB is not so good.
It would seem this move is a pre-emptive strike by Comcast to implement the cap now in what will surely become a bigger war down the road. By planting this seed now, they can take advantage of the current low bandwidth usage (as it inevitably continues to grow exponentially), all the while marketing the 250GB cap as ridiculously high (knowing full well that we will all be inevitable data hogs very soon).
If we don’t fight back, ultimately we’ll all be coveting monthly ISP rollover GB’s soon…what a joke. Heck, before you know it we’ll have to buy virtual stamps for email.
Guru Om Malik of GigaOM has compiled his top ten reasons as to why bandwidth metering should be taken out back and shot dead like Candy’s dog.
So get out there and voice your protest.
To conjure more inspiration for your candlelight vigil signs, here are a couple of great graphics I discovered when I searched Google Images for “Comcast” and “evil”:
The Digital Home in 2013
Superb new site, “The Industry Standard” has published a great series entitled, “The Digital Home in 2013″. It covers everything from networked garage doors to cloud computing to IPTV anytime, anywhere on anything.
Here’s the introduction:
“It’s 2013, and you’ve just come home from work. As you pull into the driveway, you reach into your pocket and swipe the screen of your smartphone with your thumb. Your garage door opens and the lights in your house turn on. The TV queues up the shows you missed while you were working late. Your favorite songs are following you from the living room to the kitchen. Then you stop. The phone blinks and warbles at you. The fridge says you forgot the milk.
It’s the HD/wireless/automated/streaming/sych’d/ready-to-entertain house of the future, and you’re living in it.
Welcome home.
In the following pages, you’ll be treated to a glimpse of the toys and technologies that will grace your home in the not-so-distant future. If you are like most people, you probably have already sampled some of them, but others — such as automated home control and personal applications of cloud computing — haven’t made it into people’s homes … yet.
In a few cases, you may be forced to reconsider some of today’s popular consumer technologies which will be headed toward obsolescence five years from now. To that end, there’s a summary of technologies that are destined for the scrapheaps of 2013, including Blu-ray and standalone desktop operating systems.
So sit back, strap on your sense of imagination, and get ready to step into the digital home of 2013.“
Cinetic Media, Will it Work?
New models? Heck, we love new models! will be interesting to see what Cinetic Media will do…content is king, that chestnut remains the same…
[from cinematech.blogspot:]
“SXSW Film Festival head Matt Dentler is heading to New York to help run the rights management division of Cinetic Media. Here’s the Variety coverage and here’s IndieWIRE’s report. Dentler posted just a short note about the new gig on his blog.
Cinetic Media, founded by attorney John Sloss, is one of the best-known rep firms in the independent film world. They’ve handled the sales of titles like ‘Supersize me,’ ‘Bowling for Columbine,’ ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ and ‘Napoleon Dynamite.’
Dentler and Cinetic have an interesting challenge ahead of them. Their mission is to find the best indie content and sell it to portals, VOD services, and other aggregators who’ll produce revenue through advertising, subscriptions, or paid downloads. (A deal with iTunes, which Cinetic doesn’t yet have to my knowledge, would be key.)
But they’re also gonna keep 50 percent of the gross receipts from those deals, according to a Cinetic contract given to one filmmaker I know last fall. That isn’t a bad deal if Cinetic is creating eye-popping revenues from a film that wouldn’t have otherwise had them, but some download sites and DVD-on-demand services will pass along 70 percent or more to a filmmaker, if a filmmaker chooses to go the do-it-yourself route. Through Cinetic, that same take gets split in half. And Cinetic’s contract — at least the one I saw — appoints Cinetic as the “sole and exclusive agent” for the work for ten years…“
Virgin CEO says Net Neutrality is, “Bullocks”
Oh yes…he did…NEIL BERKETT, everyone:
The talkback comments below the article are absolutely priceless, the first few being a hilarious little ditty between two posters. what’s with the lack of comprehension these days with regards to our constitution and our bill of rights..?
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