Comcast Floats a 250GB Monthly Bandwidth Limit: related news

Comcast Floats a 250GB Monthly Bandwidth Limit

techmuse writes "Comcast is considering the imposition of bandwidth caps and reductions in network bandwidth to customers who, while paying for the use of a certain amount of bandwidth, dare to actually use it! Gizmodo has more on the subject." Reader Acererak points out that it would take some pretty heavy usage (by current standards) to hit the cap described. Bear in mind, too, that these reports are based on the word of an unnamed "insider," rather than an officially announced policy.

Comcast, Pando Partner For "P2P Bill of Rights"

Bibek Paudel writes "Comcast on Tuesday announced that it would partner with Pando Networks to create a P2P bill of rights for file-sharing networks and Internet service providers. Comcast and Pando will meet with industry experts, other ISPs, and P2P companies in order to come up with a set of rules that would clarify how a user can use P2P applications and how an ISP can manage file-sharing programs running on their networks. Last month, Comcast announced that it had reached an agreement with BitTorrent whereby Comcast agreed to alter its network management practices, and BitTorrent acknowledged that Comcast has the right to police its own network. Comcast's battle with P2P networks started last year after the Associated Press published an article that accused Comcast of blocking peer-to-peer services like BitTorrent.

Dealing With Dialup

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like my parents may end up stuck having to use dialup to access the Internet from their cottage inside the Cape Cod National Seashore. Neither Comcast nor Verizon want to bother upgrading the hardware required to get them faster service. They could put a satellite dish on their roof, but it's a 300-year-old house and they feel a dish would be as prohibitively ugly as running dedicated lines would be prohibitively expensive. I've suggested they get familiar with a text-only email client; I also suggested they talk with their senators and local political reps. , Are there other ways they can increase the functionality despite the pitiful bandwidth? Any other good ideas? Any success stories you can share where people have finally got the bandwidth they crave?"

Comcast Suffers Through Major Weekend Outage - Gives Silicon Valley blogger a call

As users in our Comcast forum can attest, the cable giant suffered through a significant 7-hour outage on Saturday, which took customers offline in a number of States, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Comcast has yet to identify a cause of the outage, but says they're investigating. While you were struggling to get a hold of Comcast, Comcast was actually reaching out to help Silicon Valley startup promoter Mike Arrington, who was called by the cable giant 20 minutes after he complained about his own, California outage on Twitter:

Comcast Says FCC Powerless to Stop P2P Blocking

Nanoboy writes "Even if the FCC finds that Comcast has violated its Internet Policy Statement, it's utterly powerless to do anything about it, according to a recent filing by the cable giant. Comcast argues that Congress has not given the FCC the authority to act, that the Internet Policy Statement doesn't give it the right to deal with the issue, and that any FCC action would violate the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946. '"The congressional policy and agency practice of relying on the marketplace instead of regulation to maximize consumer welfare has been proven by experience (including the Comcast customer experience) to be enormously successful," concludes Comcast VP David L. Cohen's thinly-veiled warning to the FCC, filed on March 11.

Comcast Makes Nice with BitTorrent

An anonymous reader writes "In a dramatic turn-around of relations, cable provider Comcast and BitTorrent are now working together. The deal comes as BitTorrent tries to put its reputation for illegal filesharing behind it. The companies are in talks to collaborate on ways to run BitTorrent's technology more smoothly on Comcast's broadband network. Comcast is actually entertaining the idea of using BitTorrent to transport video files more effectively over its own network in the future, said Tony Warner, Comcast's chief technology officer. '"We are thrilled with this," Ashwin Navin, cofounder and president of BitTorrent, said of the agreement. BitTorrent traffic will be treated the same as that from YouTube Inc., Google Inc. or other Internet companies, he said.

FCC Considers Taking Action Against Comcast

Presto Vivace writes "According to CNet the Federal Communications Commission is considering taking action against cable operator Comcast modifying peer-to-peer traffic, a subject we've discussed here in the past. 'It looks like Chairman Martin, and by extension the commission, sees Comcast as going beyond simply managing its network. But even if the FCC decides that Comcast has violated Net neutrality principles, it's unclear what the agency can actually do to Comcast. The principles are not agency regulation.'"

Comcast Puts the Screws To HDTV

Todd Spangler writes "Comcast, like every video distributor, compresses its digital video signals. But to fit in more HDTV channels, Comcast is squeezing some signals more than others. The cable operator claims it is using improved compression techniques, so that most subscribers won't see any drop-off in picture quality. But A/V buff Ken Fowler claims the differences between some of Comcast's more highly compressed channels and Verizon's FiOS TV are indeed noticeable. He's posted his comparative test results on AVSForum.com — and the results are not pretty."

Comcast Kicks Tires On 100-Gig Optical Links

Balistyx writes to mention that Comcast has announced the first test of 100-gigabit-per-second optical networking equipment designed to carry data over a production fiber network. The trial equipment will connect Philadelphia and McLean, VA. "In November, Verizon said it completed the first field test of 100-Gbps optical transmission on a live 312-mile network route between Tampa, Fla., and Miami. The telco's test used a live video feed from the FiOS TV network, and optical equipment from Alcatel-Lucent. Comcast's test is different, according to Schanz, for several reasons: It's running live traffic, and the 100-Gbps wavelengths in the Comcast trial are running over the same physical fiber as its existing 40-Gbps wavelengths, which are handled by Cisco Systems gear.

Comcast monitoring Twitter, blogs and other social media

Have a complaint with cable company Comcast? Don’t bother calling their helpline: Instead write a blog entry or, better still, send a ‘tweet’ or two via Twitter threatening to “expend significant energy over the next three weeks trashing Comcast.� That’s the lesson taught by TechCrunch founder and co-editor Mike Arrington, after his Comcast broadband connection went down for 36 hours.

Comcast Blocks Web Browsing

An anonymous reader writes "A team of researchers have found that Comcast has quietly rolled out a new traffic-shaping method, which is interfering with web browsers in addition to p2p traffic. The smoking gun that documents this behavior are network traces collected from Comcast subscribers Internet connections. This evidence shows Comcast is forging packets and blocking connection attempts from web browsers. One has to hope this isn't the congestion management system they are touting as no longer targeting BitTorrent, which they are deploying in reaction to the recent FCC investigations."

Sigma's Media Processor Selected to Power Comcast/Panasonic AnyPlay Portable DVR

April 1, 2008 -- Sigma Designs, Inc. a provider of digital media processing system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for consumer electronics, today announced that its highly integrated EM8622L media processor was selected by Panasonic to power the new AnyPlay P-DVR being jointly developed with Comcast Corp. The Comcast/Panasonic co-branded AnyPlay P–DVR Model TZ-LC100 is the first portable DVR player powered by tru2way technology and will allow Comcast cable customers to record programming at home and take it with them.

Comcast Spotlights Targeted-Ad Trial In Baltimore

(Multichannel News) _ Comcast Spotlight has scheduled a third-quarter launch for an addressable TV advertising test in the Baltimore area, in partnership with media agency network Starcom MediaVest Group.

Comcast Spotlights Targeted-Ad Trial In Baltimore

(Multichannel News) _ Comcast Spotlight has scheduled a third-quarter launch for an addressable TV advertising test in the Baltimore area, in partnership with media agency network Starcom MediaVest Group.

ISPs Say P4P Negates Need for Net Neutrality Regs

Donut hole hole writes "AT&T and Comcast are using recent successful P2P trials to argue to the FCC that there's no need for strong traffic management or net neutrality rules. 'Comcast's statement, filed with the FCC on April 9th, hails an announcement by P2P developer Pando Networks that its experiments with P4P technology on a wide variety of U.S. broadband networks have boosted delivery speeds by up to 235 percent. This news, Comcast vice president Kathryn A. Zachem wrote to the Commission, "provides further proof that policymakers have been right to rely on marketplace forces, rather than government regulation, to govern the evolution of Internet services."' Looks like Comcast only likes P2P technology when it can be used to serve its political and regulatory agenda.

Comcast Spotlight, Starcom expand addressable advertising trial to Baltimore

Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales arm of Comcast Cable, and media agency Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) announced today that they will expand their addressable advertising agreement by launching a new trial this summer in Baltimore.

Google security tool goes beyond the network

Google has expanded its web-based security application which allows administrators to set policies that limit user access to sites and monitor browsing habits.

Whether Online or in Person, Smart ARM Shoppers Run the Numbers

Q: I am in the market for a mortgage, and I found an adjustable-rate loan at less than 5 percent online. The monthly payment is affordable, and I expect that my income will grow over the next few years. However, I am leery about using the Internet and want to know what I should be concerned about.

Driving While Distracted More Dangerous Than Supposed

Science News reports on recent research indicating that any kind of multitasking while driving is dangerous. Not just the obvious distraction of juggling a cell phone, but even talking to a passenger or listening to a book on tape. The researchers used a driving simulator inside an MRI machine to measure brain activations. "Attending to what someone says galvanizes language-related brain areas while simultaneously reducing activity in spatial regions that coordinate driving behavior. This finding suggests that people who combine relatively automatic tasks, such as speech comprehension and car driving, exceed a biological limit on the amount of systematic brain activity they can accommodate at one time, the researchers propose. As a result, the less-ingrained skill — in this case, driving, which is learned long after a person grasps a na

Gmail As Open-Relay Spam Server

sveard writes of a little problem Google is having that has Gmail acting like an open relay. Compounding the issue is the fact that services such as Hotmail and Yahoo trust Gmail as a source of mail. "A recently-discovered flaw in Gmail is capable of turning Google's e-mail service into a highly effective spam machine. According to the Information Security Research Team (INSERT), Gmail is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack that allows a spammer to send thousands of bulk e-mails through Google's SMTP service without fear of detection. This attack bypasses both Google's identity fraud protection mechanisms and the current 500-address limit on bulk e-mail."

Comcast Offers 50 Mbps Residential Speeds

An anonymous reader notes that Comcast is offering a new 50-Mbps / 6-Mbps package for residential customers for $150, starting in Minneapolis-St. Paul and extending nationwide by mid-2010. The new service will use the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, which is nearing ratification. We've recently discussed Comcast's BitTorrent throttling and promise to quit it, and their low-quality 'HD' programming. How attractive will $150 for 50 Mbps be compared to Verizon's FiOS offerings?

Comcast Proposes Self Regulation and P2P Bill of Rights

Torodung writes "In a recent move, Comcast has proposed a 'P2P Bill of Rights,' joining the ranks of every great monopoly when threatened by government regulation for alleged misbehavior. They have instead proposed comprehensive industry self-regulation and cooperation with major P2P software vendors as a lesser evil: 'Comcast is looking to further position itself as proactively — and responsibly — addressing the issue of managing peer-to-peer traffic that traverses its network, announcing Tuesday it will lead an industry-wide effort to create a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" for users and Internet service providers.'"

EU privacy panel calls for 6-month time limit on personal data storage UPDATE

(Updates with Google comment) BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - The European Union's privacy panel, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, has called for a six-month time limit on personal data storage from Internet search engine providers like Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc., in a report seen by Thomson Financial News. The panel said major search engines generally retain data about their users in a personally identifiable form for over a year. It said that while recent reductions in storage time were welcomed, "the fact that leading companies in the field have been able to reduce their retention periods suggests that the previous terms were longer than necessary". The panel said in its report that it does not see a basis for storing data beyond six months, even when search engines operate abroad.

Comcast Bulks for Baltimore Ad Trial

An "addressable advertising" trial the ad sales arm of Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is prepping for the Baltimore area will be bigger and bolder than the project the operator recently wrapped up in Huntsville, Ala. (See Comcast Advances With Targeted Ads.)

"Exaflood" Disaster Appears Unlikely

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "By now, we've all heard of the 'coming exaflood' that will drown the ISPs in data and smite the wicked P2P users. Fortunately, the 'exaflood' is unlikely to be a disaster. Internet traffic growth is falling year-over-year, and there's plenty of core bandwidth — now handling about an exabyte a month in fact — but the last mile is still slow. So there's a reason that Comcast & co. are worried about losing to P2P, but the Internet itself isn't likely to suffer a meltdown any time soon. And there's plenty of data to counter anyone who says otherwise."

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