p2pnet - rss feed: Comcast: set to spy on users?
p2pnet news | Freedom:- What do Bell Canada and America’s Comcast have in common, apart from the fact they’re the largest ISPs in their respective countries?
They’re both doing their best to screw their own customers.
In Canada, ‘You’re on your own,’ Stephen Harper’s government has told the people who elected it.
And in the US, if appearances are correct, Comcast is getting ready to spy on individual users.
“On Tuesday afternoon, Comcast put out a vague, jargon-filled press release about working to create a ‘Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’ for users of peer-to-peer file-sharing software,” says Saul Hansell in the New York Times, also pointing out, “The release has prompted no shortage of criticism on blogs.”
Hansell says he also spoke to Mitch Bowling, Comcast senior VP and general manger of its Internet service, who, “reiterated the company’s pledge that it will only slow down the network based on a customer’s usage pattern, not what programs are being used.”
But he went further, saying Comcast isn’t going to, “deliberately slow down traffic based on what content is being transmitted or whether the maker of the software being used to exchange files is or isn’t friendly to people trying to get around copyright restrictions.”
Rather, Comcast’s new method for “managing the times when its network gets congested” will be based, “purely on individual consumption by consumers,’ Bowling said. “Anything in addition to that is outside the scope of what our network management goal is.”
The story doesn’t say what technology the company will use to check up on “individual consumption by consumers,” how it’ll do so, or what Comcast’s plans are for users it catches going beyond the bounds, whatever Comcast decides they may.
Will Bell Canada adopt similar measures unrestrained, as it is, by any kind of government oversight?
‘ … secretly blocking some connections … ‘
In the meanwhile, in the US, the FCC will today, “examine the ways Internet service providers have been blocking and slowing Web traffic for some of their customers,” says the Associated Press,going on:
“Conspicuously absent from the list of panelists are any major Internet service companies, including Comcast Corp, which has been under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission for delaying file-sharing among some of the company’s customers as a way to better manage network traffic. Consumer groups had complained that the company was secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers.”
Exactly the same charge is being levelled at Bell.
In the States, “An FCC spokesman said other major Internet providers, such as Time WarnerCable Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., were invited to speak but declined,” says AP. “However, some of the panelists were recommended by the companies, he added.
“Brett Glass, chief executive for Lariat.net, a local Internet service provider based in Laramie, Wyo., is the only Internet provider executive scheduled to speak.”
By an amazing coincidence, on the eve of the hearing Comcast announced it’s leading the way in a move to create what it’s calling a P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for users and ISPs
“Comcast and Pando plan to convene a group of ‘industry experts’ to discern what options and controls consumers should have when using P2P apps,” said p2pnet yesterday, going on:
“This seems a lot like the claims of the Big 4 record labels, Vivendi Universal, EMI and Warner Music that, when people spend money on CDs or DVDs, they’re not actually buying them, they’re only licensing them and they remain under corporate control with users and liable for lawsuits if they infringe any or all Big 4 stipulations.
“On Comcast’s P2P Bill Of Rights, ‘Secondly, the two want to address what processes and practices ISPs should use to manage file-sharing running on their networks,’ says paidContent.
” ‘One particularly knotty issue the pair hopes to solve is whether, ‘P2P users should have the right to control their computers’ resources when using P2P applications’.’
With respect to the FCCÂ hearing, “At this point, the most productive course is to continue our business to business discussions and to pursue the process that was outlined in our announcement with Pando,” AP has Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice saying. The FCC and others, “will be briefed as the company makes progress,” she said.
The FCC will, “examine what constitutes legitimate network management practices and how providers can block illegal content while ensuring that consumers can download legal files,” says AP, adding:
“The agency will also review whether companies need to better disclose certain terms of their Internet service to customers, such as limits of files that can be shared.
Slated to speak are Lawrence Lessig, Robb Topolski, Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America, George Ou, an independent consultant and former network engineer, Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press; and Blake Krikorian, CEO of consumer electronics company Sling Media, a subsidiary of EchoStar.
The hearing will take place from 3 pm to 10 pm EDT at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
You’re on your own - Ottawa won’t help in Bell throttling row, April 17, 2008
New York Times - Comcast’s Concession to Net Neutrality, April 17, 2008
Associated Press - Ahead of the Bell: FCC holds Internet Regulation hearing, April 17, 2008
levelled at Bell - Bell Canada to small ISPs on traffic shaping, April 16, 2008
options and controls - DCIA in Comcast ‘P2P Bill of Rights’, April 16, 2008
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April 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am
What the hell???
NOTHING can be labeled illegal until it is proven to be illegal by a court of law!! Good God People!! What is going on in the U.S. now?? How can they block “illegal file sharing” before it has been determined to be illegal? And where is the law that says that any file sharing is illegal anyway?? What happened to “innocent until proven guilty”?
I have a great idea: let’s create technology that will BLOCK all cars from using the Interstate highways if they are carrying illegal stuff! Yeah, that’s the ticket…
Ever heard the legal term “prior restraint”? Well, THAT’s what is illegal here.
DAMDAMDAM…..grrrr…stupid people suck. Too bad they are in charge of powerful entities like the government, for example.