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RoadRunner Blocking Use of Kazaa
An anonymous reader submits: "You should know that RoadRunner is quietly blocking the use of Kazaa in
certain markets. Particularly in Texas, they have some sort of port scanner
in place which scans for Kazaa activity and then disables use of that port,
rendering the program completely useless. Grokster, iMesh, and all other
FastTrack programs are similarly affected. Yet RoadRunner is not disclosing
the practice in any way. Not only that, I'm troubled by the possibility of
them arbitrarily choosing to block other programs in the future. If this
becomes more widespread, they will have many angry (and former) customers." The poster provides these four links to forum postings with more information: one;
two;
three;
four.
At what point of blocking a person's internet capability does this become a breach of contract? Once people realize that I can swap files using HTTP, will they remove my ability to browse the web?
I don't have a contract handy, so if it's covered so be it; But if it _is_ in your contract then maybe you should re-think who you pay $50 a month.
Alas, Babylon.
Instead of limiting programs and ports, ISPs should implement another scheme that monitors your traffic amounts and limits the speed in inverse proportion to the amount that you've transferred.
That way they can run uncapped cable modems. Infrequent users get maximum speed and transfer rates, moderate users get moderate transfer rates, and heavy users (eventually) get slow transfer rates.
To avoid a congested high speed consumption situation, resets of the rates are done on a rolling basis so everyone has a different monthly reset. A web page should give you your current stats (up, down traffic, current speed cap, amount transferred, reset date etc.)
That way everyone can be happy, running servers or p2p apps, and if they want to use up all their high speed bandwidth they can be stuck with modem like speeds for the rest of the month without suspension of service. I think you'd find that people who are serving without concern for bandwidth will all of a sudden monitor their own traffic a lot more.
This also takes the ISP out of the content monitor police service and relegates them to a bandwidth metering service, which is all they and everyone else wants them to do.
Actually, many cable ISP's (AT&T for instance, atleast around here) already do block port 80, on the incoming any way. Any packet sent to my port 80 will be eaten by their routers before it ever reaches me. Is this annoying? Yes, now I have to run my webservers on port 81.
Collusion of ISPs - Remember the story last month where the leading companies in the Cable internet Biz got together? Think the only thing they talked about was capping bandwidths lower? Call it the OPEC of the internet. A handfull of companies control the fastest growing, and only viable, highspeed internet access. They can either backbight each other or agree to sell under terms where everyone gets a profitable piece of the pie
Market consolidation. look to see even more consolidation in the industry. Bandwidth providers combining with connection providers and maybe even content providers. The market is unhealthy with all the instability on Wallstreet many companies are ripe for takover or ready to deal.
My friends, the days of the "good deals" are over. Cable internet providers know they own the future of internet access and are making sure that future is profitible to the max. Look at it this way, what choice do you have?
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Even so, I think they'd have a hard time justifying that a certain P2P application always qualifies as "excessive use" no matter what. For example, if I were to hop on to KaZaA just long enough to download a single 5 MB file (such as an mp3), my bandwidth usage is going to be significantly less than if I download a single 51 MB file via HTTP (such as the latest update for Day of Defeat). So they're limiting users even in cases of non-excessive bandwidth usage, which wouldn't be protected by that TOS clause.
Monopolies rarely appear and never persist without government intervention.
Monopolies exist whenever the startup costs are high enough to prevent profitable competition. Cable modem/TV is a prime example. Monopolies also exist when there are insufficient customers to support multiple businesses. For example, there is only one store in my area that sells high-end equipment for amateur astronomers. There is only one store that sells and custom-fits foam products (such as is used in custom equipment cases). The government did not create those monopolies nor did they intervene to sustain them.
Looking for regulation to solve a monopoly problem is very much like expecting the fox to keep your chickens safe.
Thank you Timothy McVeigh. Federal, state, and local governments do a reputable job of keeping monopolies in check when they put their minds to it. That's why your utility bills are not astronomical.
Monopolies created and sustained by (typically municipal) governments. Why do you think Cox (or whoever they bought out in your area, more likely) was allowed to lay all that cable across both public and private land, but no one else can lay a competing network the same way?
Fairfax County never gave Cox (or its predecessor Media Genearal) an exclusive contract. They have encouraged other cable companies to enter the market and run competing networks. The only competitor that seriously considered entering the market was RCN but they eventually backed out because they believed that the cost to run the network, when weighed against the likely number of subscribers, would have meant that profitability would have been unlikely. Fairfax County is still looking for a company willing to compete in the cable TV/modem arena. If you know any, send them our way.
No, I imagine it'd be more like "you're hosting MP3s for an indie music label that competes with us. Since we control all high-speed access in your region, we control your ability to do this. We have therefor capped your account to 2400 baud. Please enjoy your AOL-TW "Unlimited" service package."