BBC and ISPs Clash over iPlayer

randomtimes writes "A row about who should pay for extra network costs incurred by the iPlayer has broken out between internet service providers (ISPs) and the BBC. ISPs say the on-demand TV service is putting strain on their networks, which need to be upgraded to cope. '"The iPlayer has come along and made downloading a legal and mass market activity," said Michael Phillips, from broadband comparison service broadbandchoices.co.uk. He said he believed ISPs were partly to blame for the bandwidth problems they now face. "They have priced themselves as cheaply as possible on the assumption that people were just going to use e-mail and do a bit of web surfing," he said. ISPs needed to stop using the term 'unlimited' to describe their services and make it clear that if people wanted to watch hours of downloaded video content they would have to pay a higher tariff, he added.'"

Comments

Re:Common Sense is asking too much...

[sm62704]

I'm torn as to lay blame to other providers for running unethical marketing campaigns.(e.g. get unlomited everything only to have a buried clause in a TOS/AUP/etc. that nullifies all the marketing promises.) or people not performing due-diligence

I'm not the least bit torn. When I buy a service it should perform as advertised, PERIOD. I shouldn't have to "perform due diligence". I shouldn't have to suspect that the big corporation I'm thinking of doing business with is run by liars and thieves.

I'm a geezer. When I was young you couldn't trust small, new, "fly by night" companies. The tables have turned, now it's the megagiants who are full of liars and thieves.

And you young people are so used to the thieving liars you feel you have to perform "due diligence" to be certain that some bigased corporation isn't going to bend you over and fuck you without lube.

But I'm also old enough to be hopeful, to know that the tides go out and come back in. Douglas Adams' phrase "First up against the wall when the revolution comes" comes to mind. The thieves, con artists and liars running Sony, Microsoft, Comcast, and all the big companies that got their money the hard way (stealing it) are going to get their come uppance.

My fear is that they will get it through armed revolution.

-mcgrew

(yes, keeping your head down 50 minutes out of every hour puts you in a REAL BAD MOOD. I wouldn't even wish a vitrectomy on Sony's CEO.)