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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
More Internet throttling
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published August 2, 2008 Question: Guru, I read your story about Internet throttling and what Internet Service Providers are practicing in regards to how we surf the Internet. You said that they were not really actively doing anything, but I can tell you that they’re slowing some sort of traffic. Can you confirm this?
Answer: I can’t comment directly if any ISP’s are purposefully slowing specific type of data (e-mail, music, web browsing, downloading) going across the Internet. There have been speculation and rumors that ISP’s in general are throttling data on the Internet. Time Warner is suspected of doing this and Comcast has gotten caught doing something to the effect.
What’s going on is service providers are prioritizing certain traffic over other traffic. So, browsing web pages could have right of way over music downloads. Generally I’m in favor of this as long as it’s done right. The issue comes up when ISP’s impose their own standards against the will of the customer. Since only the local cable or phone company can offer high-speed Internet, this limits your choices down to two. Some people only get one choice because either the cable or phone company doesn’t offer high-speed access in their area.
Well, it appears Comcast has gotten caught throttling and also outright blocking bit torrent (mainly used for music sharing) traffic and now they’re in hot water. The FCC has voted to punish Comcast for their actions.
I hate to see this happen to Comcast. They have been really trying to improve their image. Many stories are out there about bloggers writing about bad customer service or bad service in general and have received a call from a Comcast representative trying to make the situation better.
The broader issue is that ISP’s are getting hammered from both ends. They are getting hit from the people trying to eliminate illegal file sharing and on the other side get hit from the customers demanding to do what they want on the Internet connection.
The same is going on with the phone companies. They are performing wiretapping on behalf of the government but it’s illegal and the phone companies are left holding the bag. The Senate passed a bill giving immunity to the telephone companies so they can continue wiretapping for them. Maybe the ISP’s will get something similar.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published August 2, 2008 Question: Guru, I read your story about Internet throttling and what Internet Service Providers are practicing in regards to how we surf the Internet. You said that they were not really actively doing anything, but I can tell you that they’re slowing some sort of traffic. Can you confirm this?
Answer: I can’t comment directly if any ISP’s are purposefully slowing specific type of data (e-mail, music, web browsing, downloading) going across the Internet. There have been speculation and rumors that ISP’s in general are throttling data on the Internet. Time Warner is suspected of doing this and Comcast has gotten caught doing something to the effect.
What’s going on is service providers are prioritizing certain traffic over other traffic. So, browsing web pages could have right of way over music downloads. Generally I’m in favor of this as long as it’s done right. The issue comes up when ISP’s impose their own standards against the will of the customer. Since only the local cable or phone company can offer high-speed Internet, this limits your choices down to two. Some people only get one choice because either the cable or phone company doesn’t offer high-speed access in their area.
Well, it appears Comcast has gotten caught throttling and also outright blocking bit torrent (mainly used for music sharing) traffic and now they’re in hot water. The FCC has voted to punish Comcast for their actions.
I hate to see this happen to Comcast. They have been really trying to improve their image. Many stories are out there about bloggers writing about bad customer service or bad service in general and have received a call from a Comcast representative trying to make the situation better.
The broader issue is that ISP’s are getting hammered from both ends. They are getting hit from the people trying to eliminate illegal file sharing and on the other side get hit from the customers demanding to do what they want on the Internet connection.
The same is going on with the phone companies. They are performing wiretapping on behalf of the government but it’s illegal and the phone companies are left holding the bag. The Senate passed a bill giving immunity to the telephone companies so they can continue wiretapping for them. Maybe the ISP’s will get something similar.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.