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UK ISP Imposes Download Limits
Richard_at_work writes "The BBC news site is reporting that NTL have announced it will be imposing 1GB download limits per day for its users. As you can guess, reactions have not been mild :) One thing to note, NTL has said that they will only be persuing persistent offenders, so i guess they understand you cant track your usage to the byte! Also with NTL, they appear to ban the usage of VPNs, citing that their service is for resedential use only. Does this mean I can't email work now?"
Many countries have been living with monthly download caps for a while now. For example, Videotron (the largest cable ISP in Quebec, Canada) limits its users to 10gigabytes/month, which is 1/3 the amount NTL allows. 1GB per day is MORE than enough for anyone, even hardcore warez downloaders (30gb/month!) If someone has to download more than 1GB worth of software/music/etc it is easily possible to schedule your downloads. Even with 15 hours of streamed audio at 128Kbps, someone would only do about ~850megabytes. Stop putting your panties in such a fit for something other people have suffered through and accepted to live with already.
Now the best they could do is to sue for false advertising on "unlimited access". But once the cable company takes it out of the ads... everybody is screwd.
Parent is absolutely correct, please mode them up!
Either dump or control the 1% of customers using 80% of the bandwidth and everyone is happier because NTL can support more (paying) customers on the same bandwidth with better service. The only cost is a bit of bad PR which will evaporate with the noisy users.
These 1Mb cable connections are contended 50:1, so even 1GB a day is 5 peoples' share. It's not unreasonable, but people who have been treated to cheap peak bandwidth on the assumption that they won't use it all the time are getting a lesson in how much it costs.
James
Didn't read the article did you? It's averaged over a month so go ahead and download your distro and porn. Just don't do it every day.
That's the point of limited broadband, as you ask. It's not that customers sit on an always on service they never use, it's that customers sit on an always on service with normal use.
I doubt this move is to stop piracy or anything else except to stop them bleeding cash. It's kind of like flipping the closed sign on your buffet restaurant when the Klumps pull into the parking lot. Not that nice but good business sense, especially when too many of your customers are like that.
You're forgetting the simple facts:
1) Service is advertised as "Unlimited" and "Always On"
2) Service is sold as "Unlimited" for a fixed rate.
Now granted, in the TOS there is probably a statement to the effect that NTL is authorized to change the terms of the service agreement at any time.
Of course, and I highly suspect it, I may be talking out of my ass. -oqti
Actually 3 RedHat images == ~2GB right away. And pray that the download will not fail or you might use up even more of your quota.
I, personally, also like to download movie trailers... in highest resolution available. These are up to 60Mb each. And since fairly often I can't f**king download them, I have to stream them again for any of my friends that might be interested. And no, they don't look like they are cached on my machine...
Lesse... oh yeah, and I like to download game demos too. These tend to be 100Mb and more...
I've been staying on top of this right over the weekend (and had a /. story about it rejected 36 hours ago, grrrrr), so for those new to it, some links:
Massive thread on nthellworld.com, a offical ntl gripe site.
Complaint site
Basically, ntl are somewhat losing their nerve. I've exchanged emails with the MD of their home products range who claims to have only found out about this key strategic business decision on Saturday morning; he's either lying or incompetent, I suggest. The biggest gripe amongst the sane posters (barring all the "I pay for 24/7 and I'm going to damn well get it" breast-beating") is that the 128bps, 600kbps and 1024kps services all have the same download limit, making you wonder why you pay for the higher speed service.
It should also be pointed out that, unlike many other ISP's schemes, NTL offer no FTP mirror service with "free" bandwidth and recently started dropping alt.binaries groups from their newsspool, which is in any event so slow as to be unusable. So for big alt.binaries downloads or Linux ISOs, for example, customers are forced to external sites, pushing up ntl's bandwidth.
The biggest fear is that this is the thin end of the wedge. In the last two weeks, ntl have dropped a few warez newsgroups and introduced a fairly generous cap that won't inconvenience too many people. That's all well and good, but many think it won't stop there; once you get the caps in place and the groups erased, you can squeeze them down and down. ntl is desperately short of cash, newly emerged from Chapter 11 protection, and this would appear to be a beancounter-led efficiency drive that is turning into a PR nightmare.
I was part of a similar revolt over a no-servers line in the AUP a few years back (more info) and ntl backed down and clarified their position with a set of clear-cut and sensible rules. Let's hope that happens again.
You win again, gravity!
Well, if you were creating your own music videos and collaborating with several of your friends that 4Gb wouldn't last very long.
If you were an aspiring artist that allows anybody and everybody to download your artwork, that 4Gb won't last very long.
If you actually use those teleconferencing solutions (Netmeeting for example) with your friends that 4Gb will be gone in no time.
If you were trying to download fansubbed episodes of old foreign TV shows you can't get anymore, that 4Gb won't last you a season.
If you are interested in television commercials and want to download them in storable/indexable format, especially for old commericals, then you aren't going to get much with your 4Gb
If you are trying to download all of the independant free music online to try to find the diamonds in the rough, then you're 4Gb are going to fall short.
I've noticed a trend from MRTG that some games (RTS games in particular) take up a surprisingly large amount of bandwidth, especially if you are acting as the server in an 8+ player game. I don't have hard numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that add up quickly if you are an avid gamer. I don't know of MMORPGs are worse, but if they are then it's almost certain that the 4Gb wouldn't be enough.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. As time goes on more and more people are going to start using high bandwith applications on a regular basis. I don't think there has every been a time where the amount of bandwidth people use decreases without some sort of drastic outside influence (bandwidth caps for instance)
I could turn the question around and ask: if you aren't using 4Gb a month then why are you paying the big $$$ for broadband service? It seems to me you aren't utilizing it enough to make it worth the $40/month minimum it tends to cost. You don't need 1.5Mb download speeds to surf the web, read email, or SSH around.
I read the internet for the articles.
When I was a lad we had to use 300 baud, and sleep in cardboard box on tip.
The popular VPN systems are easy to identify and block. IIRC, Microsoft's PTPP uses an IP-based protocol for its tunneling that isn't implemented on top of TCP (the IP protocol number is different).
One could always invent their own VPN protocol that rides over normal TCP/IP and where you can configure the server's port. That would get around bans like this.
All I want is a kind word, a warm bed and unlimited power.
In the feedback article it says they are only looking at the monthly report that averages under 1 GB per day. This means you would have to dl more than 1 GB per day for the whole month to violate the limit. I really can't see anyone complaining over that. It is perfectly reasonable.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
Sorry, but if you're doing more than 30GB of month at home, you're really lucky your ISP isn't just getting so pissed off that they report your downloads to the police :P How much of that 30GB+ is legal? 1GB? 2GB?
I think that's a really unfair assumption. While I'm sure there are quite a few people that use more than 30GB/mo. for illegal purposes, it seems like an indefensible non-sequitur to imply that such a fact gives any reason to believe that a person is doing something illegal simply because they also happen to use 30GB/mo....
It's that type of propaganda logic that supports the RIAA and allows it to continue functioning.
There's a LOT out there on the net. I could easily find 30GB of legal stuff worth downloading every day. Fortunately for me, though, I have better things to do, but the point remains.
Personally, I really fear that this type of stuff will start happening. It would be my guess that the type of people who do use that much bandwidth are not the type to spend lots of money on other forms of entertainment, because they seem to be able to get plenty right at their computer. Those are perfect targets for the RIAA and MPAA... And I'm sure they'd be more than happy to label anyone who finds entertainment outside the accepted forms a criminal.
then don't sell 24/7 unlimited bandwidth if you don't mean it. They have the same thing as an "all you can eat bar". Should I not be allowed to purchase all you can eat ribbs because last time I did I ate four full racks? Should I not be allowed to eat the crab leggs because I at 12 halves? that is the bisuness model, sell "all you can use" to everybody, a few use alot most don't. The ones who don't feel good becuase they CAN use large amounts, if you kick off everyone who does then it's not unlimited (and at least in the US you can sue). Same concept with insurance and many many other things.
AT&T dialup used to send me frequent letters about "too much usage on my unlimited plan. After about the 5'th day I got one I sent back a polite letter. They said If I wanted 24/7 I should purchase the bussiness plan. I e-mailed them back with my service plan and basically said if they kicked me I am a student, have unlimtied time, and could probably find a lawyer who is willing to work for 80 percent of the winnings - go ahead and try. Apparently they were having difficulty with others doing this, made it metered and lost nearly all thier customers, then re-instated thier unlimited plan.
They can't have it both ways (have unlimted usage and require no one use much), if you offer "all you can eat" someone like me is going to come along and eat all they can.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it