From the NY Times of 26 Feb 2008:
Quote:
F.C.C. Weighing Limits on Slowing Web Traffic
The head of the Federal Communications Commission and other senior officials said on Monday that they were considering taking steps to discourage cable and telephone companies from delaying the downloads and uploads of heavy Internet users. ...
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, has been the subject of a complaint after it acknowledged that it slowed down some Internet traffic of BitTorrent, a file-sharing service, because of heavy use of video-sharing applications.
|
If you are a heavy downloader on Comcast (ie listen to radio webcasts constantly), then Comcast may terminate your service without any explanation. This has been reported on NPR. If three users consume that much bandwidth, then the other 24 users who share the same coaxial cable will suffer diminished service. Comcast's solution is reported as to terminate heavy user service.
In a free market, Comcast would simply increase bandwidth or make other plans for the so many more who will be demanding more of the internet. Instead, Comcast suggests surcharges for services such as Google.
Earlier in this thread was software purchased by Comcast that can identify packets so as to delay them. Skype was a possible target cited by IEEE Spectrum. NY Times identifies another target - BitTorrent.