Hey Comcast....not so fast!

Comcast recently announced it was, efffective Sept. 5th 2008, going to cap its residential users internet access to 250GB per month. While that may be a substantial amount for most users, people who spend lots of time on the internet and/or play a lot of games could run into some issues on a month to month basis. Downloading of HD content also will instantly begin putting a toll on their monthly cap. So what can Comcast customers do?

[dktxx2]

Only time I'll ever say this, Go FCC! Ugh God, I'm sick now.

[JsonHenry]

Comcast makes me SICK. Their practices are EXACTLY what puts America behind in the broadband market.

[jessupj]

Ain't you guys lucky. I get 20GB a month and that's $75. You'll still much better off then me. And thats at 1.5 mbps mind you.

[Millah]

FUVK Comcast...seriously, they are one of the worst companies in general I've ever dealt with. I was so mad when I moved to a new house last year that only had Comcast, it was like a year of torture. Internet went out at least twice a day, and their customer service was disgusting and rude. They are truly a company that doesn't give two sh1ts about their customers. Thank god I got back with Bright House last month.

[RemmM]

I'm glad I have Cox XD Cox has never screwed up my internet experience. I think the bill is called the ''Lawsuit Prevention Act''

[RemmM]

If we don't stop them, then OTHER companies will jump in the same boat as Comcast. Besides, they are doing it on purpose because while we are worrying about all this BS, Bush signed a bill to prevent companies from getting soon. It protects the companies from anyone who tries to sue them.

[pixelsword]

Brrr. I feel sick, too.

[RememberThe357]

.

[FantasyStar]

They keep wireless stuff in check, so when we use our cheap cellphones from China, they're not giving us cancer. Check all logos for the FCC logo to ensure it passes all regulations. The FCC is your friend.

....except during late nights on the Spice Channel.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Actually praising the FCC for trying to put a stop to what Comcast wants to do.

[Proxy]

If a company needs a cap to stay profitable that is fine. What we really need is transparency, that is, we know exactly what we are paying for and what we are getting. Previously, Comcast was targeting those with over 250 gigs a month and asking them to cut back on their "unlimited" internet. When hassled about what number they should cut back to, Comcast had no answer. Now, the FCC forces them to make there network policies public and we learn that 250 gigs is the magic number. Nothing has really changed, all that has really changed is that we now know that the definition of "unlimited" was really 250 gigs. (This is exciting news as I now know my PS3 and PC can hold "unlimited" amounts of data.)

Comcast sells unlimited internet for 70$ a month. (Lets say.)
CompanyX sells unlimited internet for 80$ a month.

When you take away the LIES:

Comcast sells 250 gigs for 70$ a month.
CompanyX sells truely unlimited internet for 80$ a month.

Suddenly CompanyX has a much more tempting offer.

Companies shouldn't be allowed to LIE about, or conceal, their network policies and should be subject to lawsuits if they do. This way, everything is out in the open, and the consumer can get a clear look at whats available and make his choice. This way, the open market will favor those with truly desirable services, rather than those who are good with smoke and mirrors (like Comcast).

[Kholinar]

"What we really need is transparency, that is, we know exactly what we are paying for and what we are getting."

And that's what we'll get because Comcast knows they'll have Class action suits everywhere if they continue to advertise unlimited.

The FCC here is just saying, "don't mess with p2p, it's against net neutrality rules."

[FantasyStar]

actually, "net neutrality" is only a slang coined-term. It's not written in any official law yet, so as far as our government is concerned, this is just another step towards enforcing its rulings, not rules on behalf of Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality to this day is only wishful thinking and unwritten rules. I, of course, am paying my contributions towards making Net Neutrality a government-sanctioned reality. Maybe you should too.

[Kholinar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

In 2005, the FCC adopted a policy statement stating its adherence to four principles of network neutrality.

You can download a pdf document of these FCC principles here: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ed...

it's a federal policy, like most regulations, they don't need rule of law, just an organization with ruling authority, e.g. the FCC, the EPA, etc.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/...

[FantasyStar]

Ah I see. Bubbles for the information. That's news to me. But it makes more clear the grounds for FCC's investigation and now, debate.

"Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006"

[Megatron08]

proxy whats wrong with your thinking is that in most places you dont have a company x you just have comcast. I've move around a lot and I have never lived in anyplace that has more then one cable company. So if you dont like the cable company your pretty much stuck with a dsl that is a lot slower. Plus if comcast is able to change the law to allow a cap then it likely that the rest of the companies will soon follow. putting a cap on it would all but destoy online

[Proxy]

Maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like you saying that using internet caps are illegal. Strictly speaking, this isn't a cap, as your not charged extra for going over 250 gigs, but you may be subject to a phone call asking you to cut back.

If a internet provider needs to put a cap in place to remain a profitable business then that is what will happen. The alternative is we just let them go out of business, but that isn't good either.

I do agree with you though in this. For the free market to work there needs to be competition between as many companies as possible. As you said, in many places there is only one choice. I know that my small city has joined into a larger project with other cities where they will use tax dollars to bring fiber option to EVERY house (everyone pays taxes, so nobody can be left out). The line can handle 100 mbps, but I'm saddened to learn it will be leased out to private companies who will probably only give about 20 mbps to the consumers. The good thing though is that I'll have Comcast available to me, along with 4 or 5 smaller providers which no doubt will be faster thanks to the fiber optic. Fiber optic is great because the line itself is so capable and future proof, can't get anything faster than fiber optic.

Government provided lines should be available for any small company to use to distribute it's services, just like the phone lines are. The we will have competition and it will help drive down the costs. There may still be caps, but they will (hopefully) be used appropriately. For example, 20 gigs a month for a mere 10 dollars.

[DarkBlade]

GO FCC. WHOOT lol

[Harry190]

caps me at 60 gb. I would be REALLY happy with 250 gb,REALLY REALLY happy. I max out every month.

[ICUP]

After u the excess 60 GB, a dollar a GB.

[Panthers]

I hope TW Cable doesnt try the same thing. They have been great so far, but I know they are testing out a limit.

[Silogon]

250gb seems like a lot, but atleast 100gb of that would be used on the internet alone. Think about all your gaming and downloads. 250gb is all gone... This better ressult in everyone getting 16 mb service at the very least. I am at 16mb service and paying out my ass for it. 70 bucks a month with my cable.

[AuToFiRE]

$70? well im paying $45 alone for the internet, for 7mb and a 60gig cap.. dont say your paying a lot with cable its $130

[DJ]

I can't imagine dealing with bandwidth caps, especially since there's absolutely no way to track how much bandwidth I'm using. I'm constantly using my PS3 to download movie rentals and play online, so it's definitely a big concern. Comcast better lose.

[dkgshiz]

It just limits you to only 250gb per month. So you can only download 250gb per month. Which no one would ever use up. comcast is fast, its the fastest cable internet around.

[Silogon]

I know it has nothing to do with speed, I'm saying they should compensate us with the increase in speed and deecrease in price.

[ruiner4482]

The problem isn't the 250 gb a month. Most people won't use that. Even when I was bting albums a while back like all the time, I wasn't at that. My uploads were pretty high due to the nature of bt.

My point is that it will start out with 250 gb to see if the FCC would allow it. Then they would slowly lower the limit, and lower it until they are at the limit that they truly want. You give inch now, you will eventually lose a lot more than that.

[chrisnick]

actually....i got a call from them last month...and they threatened to cut me off because i was in their top 10 percentile of users at 414gb for that month....so yeah.....no caps please.

[Percy]

I don't know what your smoking but 250gbs is crap. renting one hd movie off the psn is around 8 to 10 gbs. if you only did that alone you could only rent a movie per day. now i sit on mmo's most of the day and watch a lot of internet video not to mention song and other movie downloads psp games psn demos and even full length games. I am also one of 4 users in our house. no 250 gbs is not nearly enough.

[Rogert]

Comcast sucks, a ridiculous amount of money u have to pay them, only an idiot would use Comcast.

[ionace]

i agree but unfortunetly they have a monopoly on my area ... sux i have to use them

[FantasyStar]

yah same here. However if there was a day where Fiber Optics was offered in my area I'd jump ship like THAT.

[SL1M DADDY]

the people who have no other choice. I live in a place where no other ISP provides service. I'm stuck with the Comcast Interwebz Nazis I guess...

[Adamalicious]

I'm generally not for regulation, but in our country where broadband coaxial networks literally have no competition it makes sense that this not be permitted. If it were it would be a very slippery slope. Anyway what they are trying to do is not legal so unless they get the law changed it's kind of a non-issue.

[FantasyStar]

sorta.

[sirbigam]

This is why we need competition for every area of the market especially the internet, or stuff like this will end up happening!!

[Adamalicious]

Yep. Lack of competition is why the US has fallen so far behind in internet speed. I supposed you could make a case for it also being do to a lack of regulation (Japan and S. Korea don't have fast internet because of competition), but competition > regulation if you ask me.

[crazyjetwolv]

At least your not in Australia, all our plans are capped at on average 10-25gb per month.
250gb is a lot, I had uncapped internet for a few months and struggled to use more than 100gb with constant torrents going on a 20mb+ connection.

[jessupj]

Where'd you get a 20mb connection? I bet you live on the mainland. Here in tassie with don't even have adsl2. Internet on our island is a joke!! Thanks to paul lennon, grrr.

[Immortal Kaim]

My fellow Aussie friends, I to look on with envy at the caps and prices of American ISP's, even with this 250GB limit.

I can't get ADSL2 in my area, so I pay $50 a month, with 15GB DL limit and a speed of 1500/256 K. Count yourselves lucky

[PirateThom]

Ha, I have an "unenforced" (ISPs words, not mine) 40GB cap... 250GB and people are freaking out?

Either way, gg digital distribution.

[El_Colombiano]

Good thing I don't pay for the service...

[Droid]

poor communistcast customers

[Crazyglues]

That sucks for comcast customers... thank god my isp provider is not smoking crack, because if they ever tried that I would drop them in a second...

and go FIOS... Lucky for me that's an option in my area... I'm sure for most of those comcast customers there is nothing else they can go to...

just sad...

[bob1234567]

You can suck ma d!ck FCC FTW capping usage is really pointless and only there to increase money income. Unless they give you a bandwith usage meter then this whole dum thing is just there to get as much money out the consumer as possible

[Kholinar]

Bad article, incorrect even at the original source. The entire thing is inaccurate.

The FCC ruling is against slowing/interfering with certain traffic, not capping overall downloads. The FCC, so far, seems fine with download limits/caps... just not with a provider slowing bittorrent traffic in particular or any other kind of traffic without affecting the other types.

http://tech.slashdot.org/ar...

http://www.thestandard.com/...

"Comcast has filed a court appeal of an FCC ruling that says the company can't delay peer-to-peer traffic on its network because it violates FCC net neutrality principles. A Comcast VP said the FCC ruling is 'legally inappropriate,' but said it will abide by the order during the appeal while moving forward with its plan to cap data transfers at 250 GB per month."

So, they can't mess with only p2p, but they can cap all they want, at least until the FCC says that's illegal.

[JD_Shadow]

You're major bump in that being true is the dates of the articles. The first one you looked at is during the 1st of this month (Fudzilla's article was dated as Sept. 8th (yesterday)), while your other one dates back to the 1st of last month. That and Fudzilla never states a source. And how do we NOT know that the FCC said that they can't do the cap thing, either, at some point during the interim? They could've just filed a NEW case about that between the 1st and yesterday (according to the site in question, the FCC already has).

You might be right, but you might be wrong, as well. More evidence points to being wrong on this one (and I hope you are because this cap is ridiculous and is borderline on internet terrorism).

[Kholinar]

Except there has only been on ruling.

It's the ruling that's talked about in the source: "Comcast has decided to fight an FCC ruling that it is improperly blocking customers' Web traffic.

The FCC determined that the company is violating a federal policy that guarantees unfettered access to the Internet, but Comcast challenged the this ruling in the U.S. District Court of Appeals."

But that ruling has nothing to do with caps.

There are dozens of links, maybe hundreds of links to stories about this ruling from the FCC regarding Comcast. It's the only ruling that's been made.

A later date on the article just means slower reporting. There's not a single link in the "source", it's just the equivalent of a small blog post. Shoddy journalism.

Proof needs to be made on the other side, not mine. I could give you, again, dozens of links. Could anyone else find me one link besides those two that supports this?

I don't think anyone can.

[Primetimebt]

Being a Directv owner living in the Philadelphia area Comcast has refuse to give the rights of the Phillies, 76ers, and the Flyers to Directv and even has beaten the FCC in court over broadcasting rights. So I really hope the FCC sticks it to them.

[gano]

Dumb people justify this.
Japan has the fastest internet in the world, and we are at the
lowest in the world. It should be free anyway, but if we are going to
pay, NO LIMITS. Even if people don't use alot/all of it, some
people don't even have it yet.

[gano]

For people who just get it they have a limit.
MOST PEOPLE IN AMERICA DON'T HAVE INTERNET.
How could they limit what you download, that sound crazy.
America barely have the good speed internet.
So with phone,game,food,cloths,trans,c ar,cable bills, an extra
$30 for 400 cap download?!

Protest!
PS: If you got a 360 i know u ain't going for this right.

[Wii60Fan]

How massive an ammount 250 gigs is? I have only used 5 gigs of bandwidth in one week, there are 4 weeks in the month. Seriously, its not that big of an issue for most users.

[PS360PCROCKS]

You MF'ers!! You stupid MF'ers!! Comcast I HATE you. You're evil.

[Raptors]

250 and you guys are complaining? LOL In toronto the limit is 60gb for reg high speed and 90GB for the extreme.

[Shadowstar]

That's not quite true. In Vaughan, my dad has more than that with a third party carrier. You're in Toronto, shop around-- don't just choose Bell or Rogers...

[JD_Shadow]

It's not that they have a huge cap, 250 gigs, it's that they HAVE a cap in the first place, which is in turn another restriction against something that should be a very free zone.

It could be 1000GBs for all we care. That's not the issue. It's that there shouldn't BE any cap, PERIOD! We should be able to download a million GB a month, EVERY month, if we really wanted to (and yes, I provided a VERY inflated number of gigs for that, there was a reason for that).

[ar]

I'm glad I live in Sweden and have Bahnhof as ISP. They are known to fight for there customers rights against evil snooping authorities.

[CarnageXB]

I need fios in my area now.

[Mutley416]

What does this mean to me...

I game 4-7 hours a day...online....Am I screwed?...well besides socially...lol

[Scotracer]

You could game 10 hours a day with a 10Gb a month limit...

[VMAN_01]

Wow 250gbs? Mine is 25gbs on peak and 40 offpeak here in Australia and costs $ 70 a month

[Ashta]

"How long can I stay on line before I have to log out?

As long as you like. You'll never be timed out, and you never have to log out! That's one of the many benefits of being a Comcast High-Speed Internet subscriber. Your time spent online is completely unlimited, with no additional charges."

That's in their customer guide FAQ page at Comcast.com. If you go to the question "How long can I stay on before I have to log out?" and click it they still claim they give unlimited access and usage.

Gotta say....if they ever cut my service off I'll just switch to DSL or whatever. It might be slower but I'm not paying $100 bucks a month just so I can surf the net or play Warhammer Online.

[Woof]

Why are you all complaining? Have a look around Americans,

Here in South Africa, most of us have a 3gb cap. 3GB!!
If we can survive on 3GB then im sure you people can survive on 250GB!!

We possibly have the slowest internet also. I have a 384kbps line whilst the fastest we can get is 4mb line.

I think you people dont realize how lucky you really are so PLEASE stop complaining about nothing

[Chaos-Energy]

They're Americans, can't help themselves complaining all the goddamn time. I pay €42 for a 15Mbps line and a 20GB limit. A month ago that limit was 12GB and before that 10GB. So really, you guys have no idea how lucky you really are. Oh and €42 is about $63.

[n4gzz]

digital download is future !!! makes me wonder when company like comcast exist.

[Scotracer]

Cry us a river. In the UK many ISPs have bandwidth limits. I myself have a 8Mb connection with 30Gb limit. If I can make do with 30Gb a month and still download A LOT of stuff, you lot can more than get away with 250Gb.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

But if we can take down one giant, it might pave the way for others to fall. Remember how cell phone services used to be? They nickel and dimed you for ever second of calls...and now almost all are offering up unlimited plans at a fair price. This is what we are fighting for.

For the record, you guys should be raising holly he11 too if you are capped that low. This is a global issue not just limited to one country.

[frey]

But in an area like mine where Frontier has a 5 Gig a month cap for all DSL services and a family with every room having an internet ready computer(large family), Comcast has a decently high Cap considering my alternative. Sure I hate Comcast for messing with BT but at least its better than a DSL company with ass service and low monthly cap.

[PopEmUp]

lots of porn :D

[scriptkiddie]

If you want comcast to remove their caps instead of waiting on mommy (government) to help you, you can turn this around on your own. Get a new service, If the majority of subscribers leave comcast they will change their policy real fast, and scare off any other companies that may follow. Switch to Verizon FIOS or DSL now! You can't live at home for ever.

[JBblizzard]

you people think this is bad? this is nothing to the BS we have to deal with up in Canada. try 90 gig MAX for the highest package. 60 of the avg package. Now thats BS.

GD cheap ISP's. Rather restrict than upgrade. At this rate, we as the consumers are gonna be screwed.

[AuToFiRE]

I dont get it, they are complaining about 250gig monthly cap? i would DIE for a 250 gig cap, im currently capped at 60 gigs for $45 a month

[Cynical-Gamerzus]

Drop Comcast like a bad habit!!!
This company is the epitome of crap service and ripping the customer off.
Have you ever had an appointment with them and waited hours and they left you hanging??Have you gotten crap service from them from some contractor???
Have you dealt with the crappy support and equipment??
Guess what they suck ass.
They spend billions millions on screwing you over and making their share holders rich..
Drop them Do it Now
I worked for them trust me they are evil!!!

[Fux4Bux]

Jesus christ I can't believe it. They haven't even sent us a freaking notice. I really really hope the FCC wins. Pretty soon they'll be banning sites. If we keep electing fascist republicans and letting corporations get away with this crap one day our posterity will wake up in a 1984 scenario.

[MizzRock]

it still sucks knowing there's a restriction :/

[gunnerforlife]

u lot think u ave it bad chek this out;

my one is 7 gig:/ £25 a month

[Bladeslayer]

My momma says comcast is the DEVIL!!!! if you think thats bad check out this ongoing struggle http://www.foxnews.com/stor...