[GRLUG] Comcast and net neutrality

[Michael Mol]

On 10/24/07, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/24/07, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 10/24/07, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On 10/24/07, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Another gem: A friend of mine was dropped by Comcast last week for
> > > > excess usage. (He had been seeding a large number of popular
> > > > torrents.)  When someone else in the family called Comcast (and
> > > > reportedly spoke to them very calmly), the Comcast abuse rep quickly
> > > > raised his voice and began shouting.
> > > >
> > > > I'd heard of rude, sarcastic and obnoxious reps on tech support lines,
> > > > but to have a rep shout at the customer goes beyond anything I'd heard
> > > > of before.
> > > >
> > > > Incidentally, Comcast is losing a $170/mo+ account as a result.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > In a way one can look at this as
> > >  Comcast imposing byte  limits.
> > >
> > > Here again,  Comcast could just
> > > spell it out.  What is the point at
> > > which they chuck you for being an
> > > abuser?  Is the limit averaged over
> > > a day,  a week,  or a month?
> > >
> > > But here too,  a company is free
> > > to turn down business.  But being
> > > a near monopoly,  you'd think they'd
> > > be required to inform people first
> > > about what rules are.
> > >
> > > Am I correct in saying the person
> > > above was warned at least once,
> > > or was he just cut off?
> >
> > He was warned once, but wasn't told what an acceptable level of usage
> > was.  He subsequently capped his torrent client at a lower rate.
> > Presumably, it wasn't low enough.
>
>
>
> That I've read,  Comcast doesn't
> want people using Bit Torrent at all.
>
> At least that's how it's behaving.

Then they should come out and say it.  Between profanities, the abuse
rep accused them of running a commercial server, saying that was the
only possible way they could have had that much outgoing traffic.  P2P
clients aren't commercial servers.


-- 
:wq