![]() ![]() ![]() Considering that nifty but high-bandwidth online services such as Mozy backups and Netflix movie streaming could easily push someone over 40GB in a month, let alone 5GB, I really don't like Time Warner Cable's idea, to put it mildly. Time Warner customers choose plans that range from $30 per month for 5GB and a 5-mbps connection to $55 per month for 40GB and a 15-mbps connection. Time Warner Cable, for instance, is testing a system in Beaumont, Texas, that applies caps and overage charges-its Internet access plans look a lot like cell phone plans. If Comcast is ultimately successful in overturning the agency's ruling, the company's customers could be capped and snooped on.Ī usage cap can be applied poorly, too. In early September the service provider appealed the ruling. In August, the FCC ruled that Comcast had violated federal policy by interfering with P-to-P traffic, and mandated that it stop doing so. The fight between Comcast and the FCC isn't over yet, either. Meanwhile, AT&T is still getting flack because of its alleged spying on Internet traffic for the National Security Administration, without warrants. AT&T, for example, said earlier this year that it's investigating ways to dig deep into its customers' Internet traffic in search of copyrighted material, according to the New York Times. Of course, there's nothing to stop broadband companies from snooping in other ways. The ISP says less than 1 percent of customers will be affected. Contrast that with its previous (and initially undisclosed) practice of interfering with peer-to-peer traffic (in an effort to limit customers' downloading of huge, bandwidth-hogging files). Because the cap applies to all traffic equally, it doesn't require that Comcast snoop for particular types of application data. — - Comcast's move to limit its broadband customers' throughput to 250GB per month starting in October might anger those who want unlimited access, but it's actually good for privacy. ![]()
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