Gearfuse

We’re fed up.

The cable companies have subjected us to non-stop bullshit over the past 5 to 10 years, depending on your provider. Comcast, RCN, COX, Time Warner and all the others are constantly raising our fees, not offering enough channels in HD and this time around, trying to cap our Internet bandwidth. Time Warner Cable (TWC) has been experimenting with bandwidth metering for over a year now and the results have not been pretty. Though rumors have been swirling around that TWC will offer unlimited bandwidth for $150 a month, nothing has been confirmed.

So you would think that with all this heat on them, TWC would be open to discussing Net Neutrality with the FCC in an effort to appease its users. No dice. Look at this crap:

“Now is not the time, nor is this the appropriate proceeding, to engage in a debate about the need for net neutrality obligations,” two TWC lawyers warned the FCC on Monday. The discussion should stay strictly focused on broadband deployment, the company insists. “Debates in this proceeding about new net neutrality regulations would only divert attention from these important goals, delaying the distribution of funds while generating considerable contention when the Commission should instead be fostering a spirit of collaboration.”

You know what, Time Warner? Spare me your antics. I canceled with you awhile ago for a reason. I’m not coming back and hopefully others will cancel as well before you end up totally fucking them over.

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Comcast is the first ISP to start ramping up use of bandwidth caps. P2PNet has a fantastic write-up that completely details all of Comcast’s shady doings. The piece mentions how Comcast has developed a “disconnect user” option. That’s right. Use too much bandwidth for it’s liking and the big C might kill your connection for good. Even scarier are the recommendations for pirates, P2P users and movie buffs:

If you’re a Comcast user and you do P2P all day and all night, to avoid exceeding 250 GB in a month, users should budget their activity properly.

If users want to dedicate all 250 GB to P2P use, then they should limit their P2P clients to about 90 KB/s (perhaps dividing this into 30 KB/s upload and 60 KB/s download).

If they want to save 100 GB for non-P2P, then the budget should be about 55 KB/s (20 KB/s upload, 35 KB/s upload).

It keeps going on and on. I believe the largest issue on hand is the issue of monitoring. Other utility companies allow you to self-measure your usage. Comcast at least needs to have a tool where you login and view your total bandwidth amount for the month, much like that of a web hosting company. Read on if you’re in the mood for a great write up. Don’t do it if you’re already pulling your hair out over Comcast’s practices. It’ll hurt quite badly.

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If you’re one of the few that hasn’t already switched to Verizon because Comcast kept throttling your Internet connection while you were trying to torrent, get this: Come October 1st, Comcast will be implementing a 250GB monthly cap as part of their shift toward “protocol agnostic” network management.

Comcast is still making plans on how they want to screw their customers over, like having the notion to consider charging $15 per 10GB over the monthly cap or banning your internet access entirely for emailing too frequently. Yet, who knows what they’ll do?

Comcast defends their monthly cap:

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Everyone hates Comcast. Don’t give me that shit that it’s a decent company. Comcast is thisclose to getting shit on by half its customers and as Verizon offers (somewhat) better options and TV, customers will start to defect away from Comcast. Now the FCC is ready to make everyone’s day, by announcing that Comcast knowingly and wrongly fucked with your Internet.

Crack open a Bud. You deserve one. The FCC is expected to levy fines against Comcast on Friday and rule that Comcast cannot interfere with consumer ‘net traffic. This is a win for all of us.

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This is just coming off the wires but it appears the FCC is going to punish Comcast for the way it has been handling its ‘net traffic. As you may recall, Comcast has been at the center of an argument over whether or not it has the right to throttle Bit Torrent traffic. The FCC claims that by doing this, it’s violating the FCC’s principles of protecting consumers access to the Internet.

Remember, this is the same Comcast that sabotaged a public hearing and offers shit Internet service. And look what they’re still spewing:

Company spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice on Thursday denied that Comcast blocks Internet content or services and that the “carefully limited measures that Comcast takes to manage traffic on its broadband network are a reasonable part” of the company’s strategy to ensure all customers receive quality service.

It’ll be awhile before Comcast is fined and forced to give us back what is rightfully ours (The Internet), so don’t go holding your breath in excitement. This is just one step in the right direction towards freedom on the Internet.

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It figures. A year after I move to NYC from Philadelphia, the Comcast Center is completed and the finishing touches it has are beyond spectacular. When I go back to visit, I’ll have to get some footage of this $22 million high-def video wall in action. It’s 27′ x 87′, features 10 million pixels across various modules, has six LED digitizers and a boatload of video processors. Oh yeah, it contains 27 TB worth of data.

The purpose of this huge video screen? To one-up One Liberty Place and to keep security guards entertained. The 3-D animations are apparently a real hoot to see in person. Peep the video above or stroll over to Center City to witness all that video goodness.

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