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Comcast Tells Government That Its Data Caps Aren't Actually "Data Caps"

mpicpp (3454017) writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica about Comcast's data caps that aren't data caps:Customers must pay more if they exceed limits — but it's not a cap, Comcast says. For the past couple of years, Comcast has been trying to convince journalists and the general public that it doesn't impose any "data caps" on its Internet service. ... That's despite the fact that Comcast in some cities enforces limits on the amount of data customers can use and issues financial penalties for using more than the allotment. Comcast has said this type of billing will probably roll out to its entire national footprint within five years, perhaps alongside a pricier option to buy unlimited data. ... Comcast's then-new approach was touted to "effectively offer unlimited usage of our services because customers will have the ability to buy as much data as they want."

341 comments

  1. Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have no faith that the government won't fall for this blatant lie.

    1. Re:Sigh by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course they will, while comcast is telling them this, they are stuffing wads of money in the senators pockets. The longer they talk the more money goes into their pockets... Senators need to keep warm during the upcoming winter....

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Chuckle.

      Considering Congress convinced itself that the Affordable Health Care Act was a financial penalty and not a Tax, ( though declared a Tax by the SCOTUS ) I'm right there with you on that :)

      It's like car insurance. We don't penalize you for being single, we just give the married folks a better rate :D

    3. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They get paid by Comcast. To them, they just need to word it so the people think its good for them, or bury laws in some unreadable 2000 page bill.

    4. Re:Sigh by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2

      I have no faith that the government won't fall for this blatant lie.

      I have no desire to defend Comcast. However, I think it's a bit strong to call it a "blatant lie." What I would call it is "highly disingenuous."

      Comcast says there's no cap: they won't stop sending you bits, they'll just charge you more if you exceed a threshold. Of course, their definition of "cap" is a thin disguise over their real intent, which is to discourage heavy usage of their network. It sucks, but it is tenable.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    5. Re:Sigh by Predius · · Score: 3

      I want to say this was all debated once in the past back in the dialup era. If you advertised 'unlimited' dialup, you had to deliver and couldn't back door in per hour charges, etc. What makes this any different?

    6. Re:Sigh by geekmux · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course they will, while comcast is telling them this, they are stuffing wads of money in the senators pockets.

      You know that talking point is total bullshit, right? What you describe would be a felony offense in the United States. Nor can corporations give money directly to campaigns. They can donate to PACs, which are a special animal in the American political system, but they can't donate directly to campaigns or candidates.

      Hey, uh, just FYI, you know what's another word to describe a "special animal in the American political system"?

      Corruption.

      Enough of your word-mincing. We ALL know how Politicians get bought and sold so let's cut the "total" bullshit here. Call it what you want. I call it what it should be; illegal, because the end result is the same. Corporations controlling government.

    7. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      War is peace
      Hate is love
      Your petty existance is made better bybtje limits imposed on you
      Joy is available in the pain you feel. Open yourself to the joy we bring you.
      Pay your bill. NOW

    8. Re:Sigh by master_kaos · · Score: 4, Interesting

      no it isn't bullshit. I live in canada where we even have stricter rules than the US and it still happens here. My dad owns a business and whenever he bids on government jobs his main competitor always wins the contract. Anyways when the owner of the compitor sold the company and retired my dad asked him how did he keep winning the contracts even though the bids were the same. The guy said easy, he would go to whoever is awarding the contract and say "how would your wife like a new washing machine?" and then magically a top of the line washing machine would show up at their house a couple days later (completely off the books of course, he would pay for it out of his own pocket, then just take a bonus out of the company to reimburse himself).

    9. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are innocent of corruption!

    10. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So apparently it's not bribery if you get a third party to deliver the money for you?

    11. Re: Sigh by Cutting_Crew · · Score: 2

      how did SCOTUS declare it a tax when it wasnt wriiten up as one in the law? How do they have the leeway to change the definition of something in a ruling? They are supposed to rule on whats before them, not define it as something else in order for it to pass constitutional muster.. ??? The reason it wasnt called a "tax" in the law is because it wouldnt have gotten the votes. SCOTUS ruling it is a "tax" bypasses the whole point of voting for a bill.

      Am i missing something?

    12. Re:Sigh by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Interesting

      We ALL know how Politicians get bought and sold so let's cut the "total" bullshit here.

      Yes, they do. But not all of them and certainly not in the manner that the GP presented. One needs to actually understand how the system works before one condemns it and/or proposes fixes for it. Incidentally, most of the people in politics hate the system as much as you do. You think they enjoy spending so much of their day begging people for money so they can fund their campaigns? The real world isn't House of Cards, most people actually enter public service for noble reasons, ranging from the mundane fixing of potholes to the desire to advance a social cause. The problem is two fold:

      1) Campaign finance reform is inherently suspect because it's passed by people who have an incentive to make it harder for incumbents to lose elections. There's a reason why opponents frequently referred to McCain-Feingold as the "Incumbent Protection Act"

      2) Meaningful campaign finance reform would require a Constitutional Amendment; the idea I most liked was the notion of precluding private donations but giving every American citizen X dollars to allocate as they see fit. It's an awesome idea but one that's utterly unconstitutional. Perhaps you should start building a network for this concept rather than spouting talking points about money going into Senators pockets?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    13. Re:Sigh by lucm · · Score: 2

      We ALL know how Politicians get bought and sold

      I get the "bought" part, that is after all how lobbying works (it's not a secret), but how does one "sell" a politician? Do you mean that political parties are pimping out their people?

      Also I would suggest that given the kind of loyalty one can find in Washington, the proper term should be "rent" rather than "buy".

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    14. Re:Sigh by qeveren · · Score: 1

      Canada is not a one-party-consent polity for recording conversations, IIRC.

      --
      Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
    15. Re:Sigh by cheater512 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is done in Australia with virtually every single ISP with one tiny exception.

      The quota you have is in big print right next to the price.

      If you don't tell people what the quota is (in a fair way) then blatant lie does cover it quite nicely.

    16. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about.It was passed by Dems,remember Pelosi "pass it before you read it"
      You can't be that thick
      '

    17. Re:Sigh by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 2

      They can donate to PACs, which are a special animal in the American political system

      Ummm... No. A PAC (Political Action Committee) is simply a funding mechanism for campaigns. Federal laws (since we are talking about Federal elections) prohibit corporations and labor unions from contributing to campaigns, PACs, or generally from spending money to influence federal elections.

      You may be thinking of the ability of Corporations and labor unions to create PACs themselves. They can do that, and 501(c)(4) organizations can, too (most issue-advocacy groups do exactly that - MoveOn.org has a separate PAC, as does the AFL-CIO and many corporations like Best Buy, Amazon, and CVS. But they can't contribute their own funds to them). They can also (since Citizen United) do things like fund movies, books, or other media productions that criticize a political candidate, as long as it is not an endorsement or encouragement to vote or not vote for any specific candidate for election.

      That may be a thin line - but unless you have a large war chest to defend yourself with expensive lawyers, you better make sure you follow the very specific relations closely, or you'll find yourself the target of an extremely well-funded and organized prosecution, as many have discovered.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    18. Re:Sigh by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

      I get the "bought" part, that is after all how lobbying works (it's not a secret), but how does one "sell" a politician? Do you mean that political parties are pimping out their people?

      Also I would suggest that given the kind of loyalty one can find in Washington, the proper term should be "rent" rather than "buy".

      If my company wants to build a pipeline through several states I will approach the incumbent owner of the politicians in those states and shower them with money to get them to steer those politicians my direction.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    19. Re: Sigh by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      how did SCOTUS declare it a tax when it wasnt wriiten up as one in the law? How do they have the leeway to change the definition of something in a ruling?

      Basically, because that's how the government defended it. SCOTUS didn't come up with it themselves, the Attorney General said that was how the Federal government had the authority to impose it, because the Constitution gives them the power to tax.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    20. Re:Sigh by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 2

      To quote Shakespeare,

      A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,

      but since this is politics it ain't no rose and it don't smell sweet.
      No the money isn't put into the congressman personal account but the PAC is essentially a campaigning run by proxy. And instead of fiduciary reward other less formal forms of graft are used like their failure of a kid managing to make into a ivy league school, after a suitable donation is given to the university by a company wanting bill passed, high-speed internet may be installed in a senators home neighborhood, he may get high 6 figure sallery job no effort job lined up after his term is ended. Oh and don't forget insider trading is LEGAL for senators and congressman so a insider stock tip to them can make then rich with no repercussions.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    21. Re:Sigh by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They are innocent of corruption!

      because they write the legal definition of corruption to insure it does't count them

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    22. Re:Sigh by jenningsthecat · · Score: 1

      Of course they will, while comcast is telling them this, they are stuffing wads of money in the senators pockets.

      You know that talking point is total bullshit, right? What you describe would be a felony offense in the United States. Nor can corporations give money directly to campaigns...

      In the first place the fact that it's a felony doesn't mean it doesn't happen - crimes are committed every day without the perpetrators being caught. And there are ways for the money to change hands other than campaign contributions - offshore accounts being one example. In the second place there are non-monetary means of payment, such as promises of jobs - witness the 'revolving door' between government and corporations.

      I realize such intricacies don't make for good talking points but it would be extremely helpful if people would at least learn how the system works rather than spreading FUD that only serves to undermine the tenuous amount of faith we have left in our system.

      Learning "how the system works" is only useful if you are learning "how the system REALLY works", (a subject not taught in most curricula), as opposed to how the system was designed to work. As for the 'tenuous amount of faith', it's tenuous for a reason. Besides, faith is misplaced in this context; what counts is trust, which can only be earned or divested. And most people realize that the government has divested itself of a huge amount of the trust which it had formerly earned.

      --
      'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
    23. Re:Sigh by whoever57 · · Score: 2
      I think that you missed the note at the beginning of that page:

      Note: Portions of this publication may be affected by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Essentially, the Court's ruling permits corporations and labor organizations to use treasury funds to make independent expenditures in connection with federal elections and to fund electioneering communications.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    24. Re:Sigh by Livius · · Score: 2

      Literally stuffing physical cash in pockets, yes.

      But there is no shortage of ways to get the money to the right people. In fact not giving money to certain people is often enough to achieve the same result.

      You are not paying close enough attention.

    25. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh you do realize that many employees of those industries give X dollars to Y candidate without actually ever giving any dollars to anyone or knowing they're making a donation?

    26. Re:Sigh by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I think that you missed the note at the beginning of that page:

      Note: Portions of this publication may be affected by the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC. Essentially, the Court's ruling permits corporations and labor organizations to use treasury funds to make independent expenditures in connection with federal elections and to fund electioneering communications.

      That's exactly what I said, but in different language. "electioneering communications" is more concise than mine, though, I'll grant you.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    27. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ehh..

      If it's happening with even a single senator or congressman, then guess what... If the rest of the Senators or Congressmen do not corral that criminal in their midst, then the rest of them are guilty of aiding and abetting.

      So, either they rat out the crooks, or they all are crooks and all should be impeached, sent to gitmo.

      End of fucking discussion.

    28. Re:Sigh by s.petry · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You are attempting to mince terms to ignore the bribery since it does not come from 1 person/company as opposed to looking at the recipient of the bribe.

      40 years ago the rules were different and sure it was called bribery. Today, no such thing. Campaign contributions can be used for clothing if said clothing is used on the campaign trail, it can be used for food, lodging, travel expenses, etc.. etc.. and this is all over the table. People holding offices receive regular "all expenses paid" trips to "seminars" regularly (even though the seminar may actually consist of a couple hour meeting which many don't attend).

      So over the table, you can pay for just about all living expenses on "contributions", but we don't call that bribery because it's not directly stuffing wads of cash into someone's pocket. Makes no difference in the long run, because if I don't have to pay for food, clothing, travel, "entertainment", laptops, email, web hosting, and all the other shit I can put on my "contribution" fund I bank a huge sum of money that everyone else would have to pay for living expenses.

      Why do you think one of the fastest ways to become a millionaire in the US is to be elected to Congress or the Senate? But of course you will probably claim that facts are fud since it harms your asinine opinion. Make sure you are ignoring the fact that members of the House and Senate can legally use insider trading knowledge to make sacks full of money that you and I would go to jail for (and have repeatedly refused to change the law).

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    29. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SCotUS is the 3rd government entity that is solely responsible for interpreting the laws.

      The legislative branch writes them.
      The judicial branch interprets them.
      The executive branch executes anyone they feel like regardless of the law or it's interpretation.

    30. Re:Sigh by jriding · · Score: 1

      Can we sue for false advertisement at this point?
      They told the government it was not a cap. So How are they charging me??

      --
      love the taste, hate the texture
    31. Re:Sigh by s.petry · · Score: 3, Insightful

      most of the people in politics hate the system as much as you do.

      I have two words for that comment. "Ha" and "Ha" again.

      Actions speak much louder than words, and Congress had numerous opportunities to make things better and has never done so, continually reducing regulations and oversight while claiming "oh yeah, it's bad and we hate it". If you continue to believe the lie that's your problem, but how about looking at some of the votes for something simple and easy like disallowing congress immunity for using insider trading knowledge.

      If it was "most" as you claim that would have been corrected long ago by a simple vote. No such thing ever happened, so how do you continue to believe they hate the system? Seriously, are you that gullible or just a shill?

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    32. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a fucking lie, a fucking blatant lie, it's such a lie that the fuckers at Comcast should all have their tongues removed by dirty, dull, serrated spoons (because it will hurt more you twit!), as well as their eyeballs gouged with the spoon, and shove sharpened #2 pencils in both ears until they are deaf, blind, mute and dumb. Then remove their fingers and toes to make sure they cannot ever learn to use brail.

    33. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I know it's a bit beside the point you were trying to make, but I'm so sick of the Affordable Health Care Act being compared to the requirement to carry car insurance. You are not required to own a car, only to have some way (insurance or you can bond yourself) to cover harm done to others by your dangerous machine. Perhaps I'm wrong, now that I think of it you can choose not to buy health insurance by choosing to not continue living...

    34. Re:Sigh by linuxrocks123 · · Score: 0

      Insider trading is not legal for Congress:

      http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsal...

      Yes, yes, the article is about rolling back parts of the STOCK Act. But look at the bottom: insider trading is still illegal for Congress under the reformed law.

      --
      vi ~/.emacs # I'm probably going to Hell for this.
    35. Re:Sigh by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Informative

      Reality...

      http://talkingpointsmemo.com/l...

      The House Ethics Committee has quietly done away with the requirement that lawmakers disclose their all-expense-paid trips on annual financial forms, National Journal reported on Monday.

      Trips paid for by private groups are now no longer required to be noted on annual financial-disclosure forms filed by Congress members, according to the Journal. The move was never announced publicly; the Journal said that it discovered the change in a review of the disclosure filings.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    36. Re:Sigh by snakeplissken · · Score: 1

      Canada is not a one-party-consent polity for recording conversations, IIRC.,

      it would be a measure of how civilised a society is, if, when such a conversation is recorded - albeit illegally - by a private individual and published; how the response by the state is balanced between punishing the recorder of the conversation and the corrupt person and crimes revealed by the publication of the conversation.

      i leave it to the reader to decide what level of balance they wuld wish for in their version of civilisation :)

      snake

    37. Re:Sigh by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I said, but in different language.

      Umm, no, it isn't. You quoted a statement that companies are banned from "spending money to influence federal elections.", whereas the quote I provided shows that companies can spend money on "electioneering communications", which I think includes spending money to influence federal elections.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    38. Re:Sigh by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      ... something simple and easy like disallowing congress immunity for using insider trading knowledge.

      Because that is not simple, is not easy, and is actually a terrible idea. We have congressional immunity for a reason. We have a carefully balanced system of checks and balances. The executive branch controls the justice department, and if a president could arrest and jail congressional opponents on trumped up charges, that would be a huge shift in power. If there is evidence that a legislator is guilty of insider trading, or any other crime, they should be tried by their peers in congress, not by the justice dept.

    39. Re:Sigh by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      What new technology exists that would bypass the likes of Comcast?

    40. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter, the last 30 years of politics has effectively destroyed the government's ability to regulate an industry anyway.

    41. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think back to the American Revolution, when average citizens no longer tried to get their government (King George III and the British Parliament) to listen to them. They met the authorized representatives of the legal government (known as Redcoats), and blew their brains out. (The Redcoats of course did likewise in return.)

      Today, average citizens are no longer even trying to get their government to listen to them...

      I'm really afraid of where things are going. Yes, this is a small issue, of at best minor importance. But no one expects any level of government to be responsive to anyone on any issue.

      At best, I hope things go to hell slowly. If it takes another 20 years, I should get a bit of retirement time in, there at the end, before the lights go out.

    42. Re:Sigh by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Why not? It's very same thing the government practices.. I sincerely hope i don't have to spell it out. It's how your sell shit. You lie, and hope the suckers will buy it, if not, then create a new lie. This is the history of man and nature.

      I don't see the big deal. If people buy what you're sellin' , then more power to ya. Everybody always attacks the wrong guy in these things.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    43. Re:Sigh by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      If you don't tell people what the quota is (in a fair way) then blatant lie does cover it quite nicely.

      Technically, that sounds more like a lie-by-omission. For it to be a blatant lie, they would have to say there is no quota when in fact there was one.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    44. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What new technology exists that would bypass the likes of Comcast?

      Emmigration. But it isn't really new. It also comes with health care benefits and previous unknown freedom.

    45. Re:Sigh by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why are you trying to regress back to seventh grade social studies? No, the real world isn't a House of Cards. It's a plain old regular chimp saying, *Pick the fleas off my back, and you can have my girl for the night*.

      Yes, some people actually enter public service for noble reasons, and if they want to maintain that "nobility", they will get nowhere, and will lose the next election if they raise a fuss. If they want to get on some committee with real power and influence, and stay in office, and fix those potholes, then all bets are off. They're going make deals, or it all shuts down. They are animals, in not so cheap suits.

      I won't call any of this "crooked" per se, because it is perfectly natural behavior. People will do whatever they can get away with. The veneer of civility only holds up while there's something to eat and something to fuck. Let's not read anything into it that's not there, and definitely let's not pretend there's any "nobility" in the system.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    46. Re:Sigh by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      AFAIK what's different here is that Comcast claims unlimited == no_cap, but unlimited != fixed_price. Obviously Comcast's definitions are highly self-serving, but I don't think they rise to the level of blatant lies.

      I say again, I'm not on Comcast's side. I just think that describing Comcast's position in hyperbolic terms (such as "blatant lies") will be self-defeating.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    47. Re:Sigh by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      In this case bought ain't necessarily bought because all the content creators and up loaders are also looking to buy politicians to ensure that content creators and up loaders can continue to distribute content without having to pay an ISP publishing fee. So everyone hates the major ISP those asshat incumbent telcos and those creative types can garner a huge amount of public support as well as paying lobbyists for politicians. I think you will find those bought and paid for politicians will come under a huge amount of pressure to take as much money from the telco incumbents and then turn around and stab them in the back, what can they do about it, they are poison and every politician will likely do the same.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    48. Re:Sigh by NoKaOi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I say again, I'm not on Comcast's side. I just think that describing Comcast's position in hyperbolic terms (such as "blatant lies") will be self-defeating.

      If they use the word "unlimited" and/or say "unlimited Internet for $X" but then put a limit on it or charge you more than $X, then it's a lie. If they say or print it openly, then it is blatant. Therefore, it is a blatant lie.

      Obligatory car related analogy: Imagine if a gas station put up a sign that says "Unlimited gasoline for $8!" but then charged $6 for every gallon over 2 gallons. Do you think they'd get away with it?

    49. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Meaningful campaign finance reform would require a Constitutional Amendment;

      Sez you.

      Lessig has already proposed two methods don't require an amendment.
      (1) Require that all donations go into a "black box" and are anonymously revocable. You can give all the money you want to a politician. He can even watch you write the check. But then you can chose to take some or all of the money back without telling the candidate that you reneged. You can even tell the candidate you took the money back if you want to. But you don't have to. So there is absolutely no restriction of speech in the system, but it totally disrupts the incentive for quid-pro-quo because the candidate can never know for sure if you took your money back. Consequently the incentive flips from giving as much as possible to the campaign to reneging and ultimately giving nothing.

      (2) Every citizen gets a voucher to "spend" on campaigns, but if a candidate wants to take vouchers they have to forgo private donations. That actually is utterly constitutional because nobody is stopping a candidate from accepting private money aka "speech." They just have to decide if they want to listen to "private" speech or to "public" speech.

    50. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (2) Every citizen gets a voucher to "spend" on campaigns, but if a candidate wants to take vouchers they have to forgo private donations.

      A simpler and cheaper method would be to base this on the salaries that we already pay incumbents. This would prevent incumbents from collecting campaign donations while in office.

    51. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The House Ethics Committee has quietly done away with the requirement that lawmakers disclose their all-expense-paid trips on annual financial forms, National Journal reported on Monday.

      Two things:

      1. They were still disclosing these trips on other forms that had to be filed sooner.

      2. They've rescinded the change: http://www.nationaljournal.com...

      Both points are visible in the page for the National Journal article: http://www.nationaljournal.com...

    52. Re:Sigh by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      Technically they are correct. It's no cap. They don't cut you off.
      It's a lie and it's evil. But it is also technically correct.
      Just like the lollypop manufacturer who advertised with "0% fat" and "Glucose is an important energy source for brains". Technically true, but oh so wrong.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    53. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Technically they are incorrect. It's a cap. They impose a quota on your cumulative data transfer over a period and if you exceed that quota you are penalised. Cutting you off is not and has never been, as you implicitly assume, a requirement for a cap to actually be a cap. It's simply one of several typical forms of data caps (a case often referred to as a "hard cap").

    54. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get the "bought" part, that is after all how lobbying works (it's not a secret), but how does one "sell" a politician?

      The way lobbying works isn't that you push an agenda towards politicians so that they eventually seep that up. That would be possibly with regular marketing/propaganda.
      The important part of lobbying is that you spend time in areas where politicians are so that they get to know you and thus they start to trust you. After that they are more receptacle to your ideas than that of a stranger.
      Once you as a lobbyist get into a position like that you can "sell" a politician. You essentially take money to make the politicians you have collected thaw up to specific ideas.

    55. Re:Sigh by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      they would be laughed at all the way to the court in most other western nations for displaying ads with "unlimited internet - only 29.99$" and then charging you at a limit.

      if they want to sell per megabyte, they should advertise with the megabytes and not have unlimited anywhere on the promotions.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    56. Re:Sigh by rjr3 · · Score: 1

      You should try to watch the John Oliver show on PayDay lenders.

      In Texas the very legislators in charge of the laws own PayDay lending businesses.

      Maybe the first day they entered the Statehouse they were clean.

    57. Re:Sigh by fafalone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You're either hopelessly naive or thinking of running for office one day yourself. Do you honestly think stuffing a senators pockets with "I'm donating $x to your PAC" is any different than stuffing it with actual currency? Or any of the other dozens of ways you can legally bribe congress, from 'I'll bring tons of jobs to your district' to 'Now might be a good time to invest in a company we're going to announce a buyout on next week' (look at how quickly and quietly they gutted the STOCK Act). All of these are the same thing as outright bribes and to pretend otherwise is nonsense.
      And while on the local level, and maybe the state level, sure you have lots of people that sincerely want to effect change, but those aren't the people advancing to the national level.

    58. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course they will, while comcast is telling them this, they are stuffing wads of money in the senators pockets.

      You know that talking point is total bullshit, right? What you describe would be a felony offense in the United States. Nor can corporations give money directly to campaigns. They can donate to PACs, which are a special animal in the American political system, but they can't donate directly to campaigns or candidates.

      Corporations/corporate lobbyists are not allowed to literally give candidates suitcases full of cash. They are, however, free to buy TV ads that explain how unqualified and incompetent the other candidate is, or to give millions to community groups that buy such ads. They are free to buy TV ads extolling the excellent performance of the incumbent. They are free to organize events to introduce the candidate to the company's wealthy executives and directors (each of whom is free to make his own personal decisions about direct campaign contributions).

      I guess my question is: why do you make such a distinction between giving millions of dollars to a candidate and spending millions in exactly the way the candidate would like?

    59. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      giving every American citizen X dollars to allocate as they see fit. It's an awesome idea but one that's utterly unconstitutional. Perhaps

      . Why is that unconstitutional?

      The German system is similar, in that election campaign money is handed out based on the number of votes they received in the previous election, or the number of signatures a party could collect if they did not take part in the previous election. The funds are not distributed linearly, but the smaller parties receive disproportionally larger amounts. The same kind of allocation is used for the limited number of TV spots that are allowed.

    60. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if the cap fits.

    61. Re: Sigh by u38cg · · Score: 1

      What if congress banned owning metal cylinders attached to a breech and trigger device?

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    62. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Any that did would be suppressed and hidden away as anti competitive and therefore socialist in nature and unamerican.

    63. Re:Sigh by Aryden · · Score: 1

      You're only partially correct. Corporations can donate directly to a campaign, but they are limited in how much they can donate. They can donate any amount they wish to a PAC or multiple PACS. Now, PACS aren't supposed to donate to campaigns, but they can. Additionally, congresscritters receive compensation from corporations in the form of "after public service" appointments, appoitments for family members, vacations, stock options and many, many, many other ways.

    64. Re:Sigh by Aryden · · Score: 1

      I would prefer the method used by, I think Denmark, where you can donate all the money you want, it all goes into a superfund and dispersed evenly amongst the contenders.

    65. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they should be tried by their peers in congress

      You mean, their friends? I'd like to be tried by my co-workers too...

    66. Re:Sigh by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      I'm not an American but it seems to me that PACs are elegantly designed to obscure the money trail. I forget who suggested it but I think the idea of making senators more like sports stars is a good one, there would be no obfuscation since we would all be able to read their sponsors names on their jackets. I have nothing against lobbying, that's what grandma is doing when she writes a letter to her local rep. What I think we all have a problem with is that money buys access, by that I mean; unless grandma has a spare $5-50K lying around she will not be sitting at her local rep's table during a fundraiser.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    67. Re:Sigh by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      A backhoe.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    68. Re:Sigh by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      You know that talking point is total bullshit, right? What you describe would be a felony offense in the United States.

      Oh, to be young and politically naive again. I remember a time when I had no idea about high-dollar fundraisers, campaign contributions, PAC's, no-show post-political jobs, contractor "incentives," voting perks, etc. Back in those days I thought a whale lived in the ocean, that politicians in a democracy got elected to represent the people, and that the Soviet Union and their allies were the only countries with government corruption.

      And not a single gray hair back then either.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    69. Re:Sigh by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      Yes, they do. But not all of them

      Yes ALL of them. Your guy too. Wake up, Goldilocks.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    70. Re:Sigh by Jawnn · · Score: 1

      I have no faith that the government won't fall for this blatant lie.

      I see what you did there... and I agree. When a government has been bought, it should stay bought. Right?

    71. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      AIPAC strikes again!

      http://www.nationaljournal.com...

      "Overall, Israel was the most popular destination, accounting for $2 million in travelâ"more than one-third of the total travel expenses to all destinations."

    72. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our constitution is a piece of trash and it was put there by the GOP. Careful system of checks and balances?

      AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA. Whatever.

    73. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People were bought, laws were changed, companies were consolidated. With the figures involved, it is easy to make an environment that suits the companies versus individual customers. It may not be right, but the world has changed a lot since 1995.

    74. Re:Sigh by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      Obligatory Pearls Before Swine.

      Money doesn't influence anyone! Also the gumdrop trees in Candy Land are great! ;-)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    75. Re:Sigh by FireFury03 · · Score: 1

      They do seem to be rather twisting words to appear not to be imposing limits.

      However, my question is: why are data caps such a bad thing? Most slashdotters seem to think that ISPs can provide truly unlimited bandwidth for zero cost, and given that most slashdotters are pretty technical I don't see how they can consider this to be a rational view. If large numbers of customers try to use large amounts of bandwidth at the same time, the only way an ISP can maintain a reasonable service is by upgrading their infrastructure. Sure, there's a lot of dark fibre already laid, but the hardware to put it into use is not free, nor is the engineer time required to install and maintain that hardware, nor is the power that the hardware draws.

      So, whilst I acknowledge that a lot of slashdotters seem to think it is their god given right to max out their internet connection torrenting "moviez" 24/7, I have to question why the majority of internet users (who don't do this) should be expected to subsidise the minority who do? Why is it not better, for everyone except that minority, to cap connections somewhere above what the majority of people use, and then charge people extra if they want to download a disproportionately larger amount?

      FWIW, here in the UK most of the ISPs provide a wide selection of packages with different (well publicised) caps and associated prices - those people who don't use their internet connection much get a cheap package, those who have a mid-range requirement get a mid-range package, and those who want to max out their connection the whole time either pay for an expensive package or go to one of the ISPs that offer "unlimited" connections (with the expected dire performance you'd expect from an ISP who is exclusively attracting the high bandwidth users). I really don't understand the American attitude, which on one hand is "I don't want to subsidise anyone else" (for healthcare, etc.) but at the same time "I expect to be subsidised by everyone else" (for high bandwidth internet use).

      What I do object to, is ISPs using the term "unlimited" to describe packages which are clearly limited. And the terrible thing is that the regulator here has said that this practice is ok. Luckily only the crap, large ISPs seem to participate in that kind of misleading marketing, with the smaller, better performing ISPs preferring to clearly label what you're getting for your money.

    76. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I call it what it should be; illegal, because the end result is the same. Corporations controlling government.

      How can that possibly be? The Supreme Court says that bribery is legal because money can't influence politicians.

    77. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so, PLEASE tell me how YOU (or one of our journalist proxies) KNOWS when someone/anyone gives someone/anyone else cash-money or anything else of value ? ? ? whether it is a pol, a star sports recruit, a bidness contact, a corrupt dictator... are you telling me that the puppetmasters (at whatever level) don't have a clue as to how to give cash/whatever unobtrusively to people ? ? ? as simple as a hundred dollar handshake, if you are an alumni 'glad-handing' a recruit... as simple as giving a pol's sister's husband a do-nothing job for too much money... as simple as getting a stock tip/etc and turning borrowed $10000 into $100000 in a couple months...
      how old are you again ? ? ?

    78. Re: Sigh by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Also the ACA was also ruled not at tax by the supreme court so that there was standing. What has confused me about the ruling was the first and 3rd portions (the second being the part about removal of federal medicaid or medicare dollars). The first part of the ruling was to decided if the ACA individual mandate penalty was a fine or a tax since if it was a tax there wasn't standing. At this point the court ruled it was not a tax and thus the lawsuit could proceed. Then later in the 3rd part of the same ruling the court finds that it actually isn't a fine but is a tax and therefore allowable by the taxing power of congress. My question since this has been did the court overturn their own ruling within the same ruling or have we now entered a state of quantum law where things can exist in a superposition where depending on how you look at them you get the outcome you are looking for?

      These 2 parts of the ruling did manage to accomplish one thing though which is I now have no faith in the supreme court to make logical well reasoned decision that is even coherent within the same ruling. This becomes most clear on pages 31 and 32 or the ruling where the court felt compelled to treat it as a tax for the purpose of ruling it constitutional yet somehow wasn't compelled to at the same time to rule it was a tax for purposes of standing. This line of reasoning I find rather disturbing since it basically states that if there is a way or reading or interpreting a law that might make it constitutional then the law must be ruled constitutional. There are 2 previous examples where this was done and any legal mind arguing before the supreme court would be wise to make use of this to ensure all laws government writes get ruled constitutional since there is a very long running president of this now (about 180 years).

      --
      Time to offend someone
    79. Re:Sigh by TFloore · · Score: 2

      If there is evidence that a legislator is guilty of insider trading, or any other crime, they should be tried by their peers in congress, not by the justice dept.

      The problem here is that doesn't work in practice. For evidence supporting this statement, I give you every internal police investigation into officer wrong-doing ever. If you haven't found it yourself before, how about this article written by an Air Force colonel whose son was shot in the head by police while hand-cuffed in custody. The officers were cleared of wrong-doing by an internal investigation. I don't expect an unbiased viewpoint from this man, but the stats he found don't make "tried by their peers" sound like anything resembling a workable solution.

      People and groups put in charge of writing laws, with a history of making laws that benefit themselves and hold themselves to a lower standard than the rest of the population, need more oversight, not less.

      Try again.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is... Oops. Frank, I've got your sig again! Where's mine?
    80. Re: Sigh by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Basically they said if it can be interpreted that it looks like a duck then it is a duck, even if it is actually a goose. Specifically see pages 31 and 32 of the ruling for the reasoning spelled out based upon existing long standing precedent.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    81. Re:Sigh by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      congresscritters receive compensation from corporations in the form of "after public service" appointments

      Some of those "after public service" appointments are for lobbying firms, lobbying for the very corporations that the politician so effectively represented in Congress. They then lobby the current Congressfolk, including promises of "after public service" appointments. Thus completes the circle is complete.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    82. Re:Sigh by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Specifically, they want to keep people from using too much Internet video as this competes with their cable TV service. If you could watch as much Internet video as you wanted, you might be able to get all of your video entertainment needs online and thus would be able to cut the cord. With caps... oops, "thresholds", you have a choice of either limiting your Internet video usage and possibly needing to keep cable TV, or using Internet video and paying extra. (Bonus for Comcast: That "extra" goes to them instead of to Netflix, Amazon, Google, or any other Internet Video provider.)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    83. Re:Sigh by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      Lessig has also proposed one method that does require an amendment: WOLF-PAC

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
    84. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because that is not simple, is not easy, and is actually a terrible idea. We have congressional immunity for a reason.

      Do you even know what Congressional Immunity is (or rather, if they needed to bring to vote disallowing congressional immunity for insider trading, what it should be)? Congressional Immunity is about congresscritters not being personally responsible for the laws they enact. It has absolutely nothing to do with letting congresscritters get away with breaking the law.

      Now, if you would like to change my mind, try arguing that letting our congresscritters get away with insider trading is needed in order to keep our congresscritters from being sued for the laws they create. Personally, I don't see how the two are related. And if a congresscritter is not partaking in insider trading, then they have nothing to worry about with making insider trading illegal for them.

    85. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh, 'they're not allowed', oh, that settles it then...
      yeah, and my grandmonsters are 'not allowed' to eat crap food...
      *snort*
      you innocent sheeple are so-o-o-o cute ! ! !
      again, HOW do YOU (us) KNOW if someone gives someone else a suitcase full of cash, IF NEITHER OF THEM SAY SHIT about it ? ? ? HOW, again ? ? ?

    86. Re:Sigh by TheNastyInThePasty · · Score: 3, Informative

      I have never seen a commercial for home internet service that is explicitly unlimited it's usually:

      Blazing* Fast** High-Speed*** Internet**** Up to***** 50****** megs******* for only******** $69.99 per month*********

      * Our lawyers advise us to tell you that we are not liable any house fires that may or may not be related to your internet equipment.
      ** When compared to dial up internet from 20 years ago
      *** Only available during off-peak hours
      **** Until we decide to deny access to websites that don't pay us for the privilege of being carried to our customers
      ***** But never actually anywhere near....
      ****** Random number picked out of a hat, you'll never actually get this
      ******* Bits? Bytes? Who cares! (Personal story: I asked the Comcast salesmen if he meant megabits or megabytes when he said "50 megs" and he had no idea...)
      ******** Introductory rate for new customers only. We will double the rates in 3 months after joining
      ********* Plus taxes, fees, extra charges, and tribute payments

      --
      The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
    87. Re:Sigh by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Of course actual outright bribery...cash for votes...is rare...it's too obvious.
      But when a congress critter's campaign (and please dont use that nonsense about PACs not being the same thing...) is majority financed by a particular company in their district, and the critter continually backs anything that benefits that company....what word would you describe it with?

      Each of the biggest GW deniers in congress is heavily backed by oil and gas companies.
      Each of the biggest military industry supporters is heavily backed by defense contractors.
      Etc.
      Etc.

      The only manure here is your own.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    88. Re:Sigh by Scottingham · · Score: 1

      That's why I say we need to work as hard as we can to get all humans out of governmental functions as soon as possible!

      Algorithmic government! Open source....GIT repo ;-P

    89. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's worth mentioning that the article you link to, it's not some guy claiming his son was cuffed and was innocent. He pushed for his own investigation and once the local government was faced with facts and a wrongful death suit, they knew they were wrong and they settled to the tune of 1.75 million. Also that with a 48 hour investigation the police determined innocence.

      Another anecdotal one from where I live. I live near Boulder, CO, and there's the "Mapleton Elk" shooting. The town got in an uproar because the police officer killed an elk in the middle of a neighborhood, the police claimed innocence, that the elk was showing signs of menacing locals and that it may have been injured, etc, so the officer was protecting the people. That was their line. Then it came out that calls had come out from the wildlife services department, they'd investigated and found no threat from the elk, and that beyond that, the officer didn't have authority to take down the animal as it was clearly in the realm of wildlife services. Eventually he was charged and convicted of hunting without a license. The one that pisses me off about that more than anything. He was never charged with illegal discharge of a firearm within city limits, or reckless endangerment. Remember, he fired a large caliber hunting rife, in a neighborhood, at like 7 at night. What if he'd missed? Hit a house, killed somebody? But the DA didn't even charge him with those thing. I know damn well I would have been. Instead he was charged with the minor offense of hunting without a license. The entire system is corrupt to the core.

    90. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Canada is one-party. See Criminal Code, s.184 or this article.

    91. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Republicans fucked up the ACA because a single payer system would have been the best thing for America. They couldn't allow that. Instead they fought over how much money insurance companies could make.

    92. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One the Blacks realize they can own the vote if they put down the bong and go to the voting booth, things would change. But they have no desire to stop smoking pot and actually doing anything to better themselves and their country.

      No not racist.. Just fact that the poor have a far FAR higher drug use than any other demographic. They are smoking their bongs along with the white poor who dont vote.

    93. Re:Sigh by budgenator · · Score: 1

      PAC's have to keep track of their donors and publish them,

      PACs and Super PACs are required by law to disclose all of their donors of over $200. However, 501(c)(4) organizations are only required to disclose their spending on political activity, and not information on their donors unless those donors give for the express purpose of political advocacy. Campaign finance in the United States

      When an election gets really ugly in the US it's normally because of advertisements ran by a Super PAC or a 501(c)(4) organization to support their "Golden Child" or oppose their "Son of Satan" opponent, rather than the Candidate or His/Her Election Committee. It's Ironic when you see ads claiming a Candidate is a bought and paid for sock puppet for the Kock Brothers in an ad paid for by Soros, and the next ad says the inverse about the opposing candidate, while you know both candidate consider the Kocks and Soros to be a tar-baby of epic proportions.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    94. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have never seen a commercial for home internet service that is explicitly unlimited

      Perhaps you have never seen such ads in the USA. They are common in some other parts of the world. Where I live (rural Finland), we have unlimited internet - it's a 100/100Mbps symmetric link with fiber to the house. Our usage has occasionally gone past 1TB in a single month, without any surcharge.

      Our only limit is that in a single second we can't exceed 100Mbit; and the number of such sequential seconds in a month is limited to around 2½ million.

    95. Re: Sigh by budgenator · · Score: 1

      how did SCOTUS declare it a tax when it wasnt wriiten up as one in the law? ...
      Am i missing something?

      Yes there is no constitutional authorization for the Government to penalize private citizens for not purchasing a service from an other private entity, so SCOTUS had to call a spade a spade or overthrow the whole bill.

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    96. Re:Sigh by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I said, but in different language.

      Umm, no, it isn't. You quoted a statement that companies are banned from "spending money to influence federal elections.", whereas the quote I provided shows that companies can spend money on "electioneering communications", which I think includes spending money to influence federal elections.

      No, it doesn't. I already said it was a thin line. Corporations can create PACs, but cannot contribute to them. They can (after the SCOTUS decision) fund media information about candidates but cannot endorse for or against any candidates. You really have to read and understand all the regulations. You don't, but that's not surprising. A lot of people have run afoul of the FEC for just that kind of misunderstanding.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    97. Re:Sigh by budgenator · · Score: 1

      First it's been a long time since Comcast has advertised "unlimited" as in decades rather than years, and certainly well before they re-branded their service as Xfinity, having said that, Comcast does market themselves by showing happy people merrily using their Xfinity internet in ways that would certainly run into their glass ceilings limits on a monthly basis; all without saying that you can only do those activities 3 days out of a week.
      Secondly why would anybody pay for broadband internet, and only use it like ISDN or DSL?

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    98. Re:Sigh by FireFury03 · · Score: 1

      Secondly why would anybody pay for broadband internet, and only use it like ISDN or DSL?

      Ok, I have a home connection that does 40Mbps down and 20Mbps up. It is capped to 100GB/month during the day (no cap at night, and this is when I run off-site backups and such). I never come close to exceeding that cap - the speed is useful for downloading the odd film, watching streaming HDTV, uploading photos, etc. for short periods. If I need to download a new Linux distro or something, I can do it in 10 minutes - doing this stuff over ISDN would be either very painful (requiring planning a download a long time in advance of actually needing it) or just plain impossible impossible. ADSL, again, would be rather a pain for the occasional large download.

      On the other hand, if I were running bittorrent 24/7 I would be able to blow through 15TB of bandwidth in a month, were it not for the cap. But I'm not interested in doing this, so I don't understand why those people who are interested in shifting 2-3 orders of magnitude more data than me should expect me to pay more in order to subsidise the build-out cost of the ISP upgrading their network to support them.

      The bittorrent crowd would characterise my 100GB monthly cap as terrible because, at full speed, I could blow through it in 5 hours. The thing that they completely fail to understand is that I never have any interest in blowing through it - I like a fast connection because it lets me do things quickly, not because I can download lots.

    99. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a difference between a lie and spin... this is not a lie.. this is spin

    100. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or the "I have no peers" line

    101. Re:Sigh by master_kaos · · Score: 1

      No he was friends with the owner.

      They did friendly competition, sometimes when he did get a government contract he didn't even like it because it goes too slow (having to deal with an engineer for pretty much everything, and everything moving at a snails pace), he said now he understands why government projects take 10x longer than private company would take,

    102. Re:Sigh by dave-man · · Score: 1

      So where is this happening? I use a lot of data, working from home, running Netflix all day to keep me company, lots of downloads and uploads ... all on Comcast. I certainly have my issues with them but I've never seen a data surcharge (Annapolis MD, near Washington DC and Baltimore MD). Where are the surcharges happening?

      --
      Bill Gates is a communist -- he's just more equal than the rest of us.
    103. Re:Sigh by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      Corporations can create PACs, but cannot contribute to them.

      After Citizens United, they can fund Super PACs.

      They can (after the SCOTUS decision) fund media information about candidates but cannot endorse for or against any candidates

      In other words, corporations can put unlimited money towards echoing a candidate's talking points, as long as they don't coordinate with with candidate. However, as Stephen Colbert [I think] pointed out, Super PACs can apparently have an office next door to a candidate, have staff who work for both, but still not be coordinating with that candidate.

      As far as I can tell, the banned activities are:
      Give money either directly or indirectly (via a PAC) to a candidate.
      Directly endorse/oppose a candidate

      But, as I have pointed out above, they can use their own money to promote the same message as a candidate.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    104. Re:Sigh by Aryden · · Score: 1

      I believe it is referred to as the revolving door of government.

    105. Re:Sigh by alexo · · Score: 1

      Canada is not a one-party-consent polity for recording conversations, IIRC.

      It sort of is.

    106. Re:Sigh by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      After Citizens United, they can fund Super PACs.

      Incorrect. You could have at least tried to check Wikipedia before posting ignorant comments. This is directly from their page (check the link if you want source references).

      In its 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the United States Supreme Court overturned sections of the Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as the McCain-Feingold Act) that had prohibited corporate and union political expenditures in political campaigns.[5] Citizens United made it legal for corporations and unions to spend from their general treasuries to finance independent expenditures related to campaigns, but did not alter the prohibition on direct corporate or union contributions to federal campaigns.[6][7] Organizations seeking to contribute directly to federal candidate campaigns must still rely on traditional PACs for that purpose.[8]

      Stop getting your information from partisan comedians. It's an embarrassment.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    107. Re:Sigh by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      After Citizens United, they can fund Super PACs.

      Incorrect. You could have at least tried to check Wikipedia before posting ignorant comments. This is directly from their page (check the link if you want source references).

      Pot, kettle, much? I specifically referenced Super PACs. From that very page:

      Super PACs[edit]
      Super PACs, officially known as "independent-expenditure only committees," may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns. Unlike traditional PACs, they can raise funds from individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups without any legal limit on donation size.[19]

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    108. Re: Sigh by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

      I know you're an AC, but it's really shocking to see something this ignorant. NOT A SINGLE REPUBLICAN voted for the ACA, not in the House, not in the Senate. I'm willing to blame Republicans for a lot of things, but this bill was the way it was solely to get support from Dems, and that's ALL it got. How and bill designed by Dems and only voted for by Dems (including the guy who signed it into law) somehow has problems that are solely the fault of Republicans is very confusing... even by AC logic.

    109. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know what they say about "illegal" right... it's a sick bird. (iLL Eagle)

      It's always about framing and interpretation my friend. That's what gets created in a court of law.

    110. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      Of course they will. Government falls for anything that makes corporations more dough.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    111. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      I concur. Complacency is the national political diet. Even if there is an iota concern by the public, that concern gets dissipated by narcissistic dreams of self-interest, immediate reward, escapist entertainment and extended work weeks. There is purpose behind "progress". To keep the masses content, occupied and overburdened so as there is little political will for revolution. Meanwhile, law enforcement has been militarized and tainted with the prospect with threats of domestic terrorism so as to make every citizen a potential jihadist. Everyone is suspect. Universal suspicion dissolves the social glue that makes a region a nation. When the foundations of society are undermined, who is willing to stake their life or livelihood for a sinking ship? Every man (or woman) for themselves. Hooray, hooray for the USA!!

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    112. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      Perhaps. But there is a difference between nobility and civility. One doesn't need to maintain a veneer of nobility, merely civility. Civility merely requires a willingness to evaluate differing opinions with a good degree of rationality. Not display complete altruism as would be required to be "noble". Nobility is more the exception than the rule. Civility is a requirement for normal social cohesion and intercourse.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    113. Re: Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      Cant say I concur with your assertion. Your focus upon cost ignores the reality of risk. If you don't own a vehicle then you don't incur the driving risk. However, the very fact of being alive means you incur the risks that accompany that privilege. Regardless of your age, health history, genetic inheritance, etc. merely being alive means you run the risk of being physically injured or incur some form of disease without knowing in advance. Insurance is the industry that handles risk not necessarily cost even though cost is based upon risk. So... for you to say auto insurance and health insurance are not the same you are wrong.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    114. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      A lie by any other word is still a lie. When a person or company purposely uses obtuse terms to mislead or confuse or even knowingly assert half-truths, it's still a self-serving distortion. And the purposes of such distortions are to lie without you realizing it's a lie. When it walks like a duck, talks like a duck... well you get the picture. Dishonesty in the pursuit of profit is blatantly immoral.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    115. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      That may be true to some extent. However more often than not they advertise "Unlimited" and then flash all the details in near microscopic small print for a few seconds. The purpose of which is merely to get prospective customers to call and order services. Many "unawares" don't realize what they've got until their first bill.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    116. Re:Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      There is no such thing as business (especially corporate) "false advertising". That's one of the ramifications of corporate personhood. Since corporations are "people" under various Supreme Court rulings and their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, they have the same legal protections you do. Which means they have the rights of "free speech" (including lies, half-truths and outright falsehoods) and the prohibition against self incrimination. The Kasky v. Nike case blurred the line between commercial and first amendment speech. And now with more recent SCOTUS rulings on corporate personhood, corporations incur even less scrutiny in what they can say.

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    117. Re: Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are only required to carry car insurance to cover the risk that you pose to others, not to yourself. The only time you have to carry collision insurance is if you finance your car, but that's the bank that insists on it, not the law. So... I say again that they are not the same.

    118. Re: Sigh by Sciath · · Score: 1

      Again you ignore the risk. Unhealthy people ARE a risk to others. So you have a pretty narrowly skewed view of "risk assessment".

      --
      "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
    119. Re:Sigh by RyoShin · · Score: 1

      Why do you think one of the fastest ways to become a millionaire in the US is to be elected to Congress or the Senate?

      This comment pre-dated an extremely relevant example by a week, one I felt necessary to mention before the comments go into archive: Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been hired by "small independent investment bank" Moelis & Co. "Moelis & Co.’s new vice-chairman and managing director will get a $3.4 million pay package between September and the end of 2015."

      Dude lost the primary because he was too focused on federal matters (and that whole immigration thing...) and, as punishment, he gets a job where he will likely do jack all (to my knowledge he has no experience in investment banking)--except, perhaps, talking to the current crop of Congresscritters about how to best pass laws that help banks--for the tidy sum of $3.4 MILLION for just a bit over a year's work. Jon Stewart does a nice rip of him over this.

    120. Re:Sigh by s.petry · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I saw the same bit on "The Daily Show". Sad that we get more "News" and contrary opinion from a comedy show than we get on 5-7 hours of what is called "news" broadcasting on 7 different networks.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  2. I get it. by master5o1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I have access to unlimited amounts of petrol because I am allowed to purchase as many tanks as I need.

    --
    signature is pants
    1. Re:I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have access to unlimited amounts of petrol because I am allowed to purchase as many tanks as I need.

      Thank you very much for not calling it gas. My car does not run on LPG.

    2. Re: I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Gas" is short for Gasoline, just like "Petrol" is short for Petroleum.

    3. Re:I get it. by Kjella · · Score: 5, Funny

      I have access to unlimited amounts of petrol because I am allowed to purchase as many tanks as I need.

      Works for the US military, with more tanks you can acquire more oil...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    4. Re:I get it. by master5o1 · · Score: 1

      I didn't even mean it that way. But it works.

      --
      signature is pants
    5. Re:I get it. by MachDelta · · Score: 1

      You joke, but two(ish) decades ago we had an ISP tell my father that their "Unlimited Internet" referred to unlimited access (eg: 24/7/365) and not unlimited bandwidth. When he asked what the monthly data allowance was, he was told that there wasn't one... but it wasn't unlimited. It was just that our household was using more bandwidth than usual (entirely my fault, being a tech-crazed teenager at the time) and it would be really nice if we would cut that out - for the good of the network. So my father explained that he had a better solution for the good of the network, and canceled our cable TV and internet on the spot. We signed up with their competition (who assured my father that their unlimited internet really was unlimited) the next day.

      Of course, now no one in my area offers an unlimited bandwidth internet package for anything shy of $130/mo.

    6. Re: I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Gas" is short for Gasoline, just like "Petrol" is short for Petroleum.

      Which is short for Petroleum Jelly.

      So congrats on having access to unlimited amounts of Petroleum Jelly! You clearly have good use for it.

    7. Re:I get it. by master5o1 · · Score: 1

      I remember dial up plans that were capped at like, 150 hours of usage. So unlimited time based access isn't something I would have thought of as weird about ten years ago.

      ADSL came along and it shifted from time based restriction to data cap.

      --
      signature is pants
    8. Re:I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So unlimited time based access isn't something I would have thought of as weird about ten years ago.

      Your time-line is a little off. Fifteen or twenty years ago (ADSL is 16 years old now).

    9. Re:I get it. by master5o1 · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, it is closer to 15 years ago. This is in 2001. ADSL wasn't common enough in New Zealand until about 2004.

      --
      signature is pants
    10. Re:I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just wait until the greens institute personal carbon usage rationing. Then you'll find that your access to gasoline is capped.

    11. Re: I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gas also has the advantage of being a more precise term. Your car does not run on petroleum. It will run, however, on gasoline.

    12. Re: I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad nothing runs on petroleum. You have to refine it first.

  3. frist psot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    first post courtesy of my high speed comscat connection!

    1. Re:frist psot by istartedi · · Score: 1

      You mean, first post courtesy of my unlimited comc

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  4. Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We need the government to build fiber to every residence in America and lease the glass to anyone that wants it.

    1. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      Unlikely. Price out your cable bill compared to your water or gas bill.

    2. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by jxander · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because those jackbooted thugs at the energy company ... wait, no. They're pretty reasonable.
      You were talking about the monopolistic thugs that provide my municipal garbage collection service? No, actually that's pretty cheap too.

      --
      This signature is false.
    3. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      For me it goes like this:

      Electric company - thug
      Water company - thug
      Gas company - ok
      Cable company - thug
      Wireless company - thug
      Phone company - thug (stopped using 8 years ago because they wouldn't repair their lines)
      Trash company - ok

      So there are 7 private companies I deal with for important services. FIVE of them are monopolistic thugs that do things like sending bills without reading the meters and fail to keep their infrastructure in reasonable repair (try having to boil water for two weeks because the water company didn't repair their treatment facility after a storm damaged it years ago and see what your opinion on this is).

      These state sanctioned monopolies are the children of Satan. Or maybe Eris. They get into the regulators knickers and generally then do anything they please.

      Comcast is now bidding to own the interwebs. Tell whoever you can that this would be a disaster for America.

    4. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good, upfront, outright, and honest.

      Never a complaint.

      Unlike the cable company.

      Wait, what, you don't have a government you trust?

      Then get out a gun, and start shooting them.

    5. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK!

    6. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You pay a private company for water? Where is this Randian paradise in which you live?

    7. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      Unlikely. Price out your cable bill compared to your water or gas bill.

      I'm not actually sure what your point is. My water bill is less than half of my recently-cut-by-$60 Comcast bill. Heck, until we cut back on our Comcast "services", their bill was threatening to approach our electricity bill.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    8. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, just like our electricity, oh wait. I mean like telephone service, no. Television, that's it, oops. Can't say water or sewer either, I live out of town and have a well, septic, and private trash pickup.

    9. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this would be a disaster for America, and CONcast.

      Why is it no surprise we are suppose to live in a "free country", " free market" and yet our politicians are pretty much hand puppets just shove your money up their ass and make them dance. And people keep voting for this baboons, and allowing industries and corporations to pretty much OWN them.

      I think the only hope we have right now is if enough yuppies get together and actually do something Gaagle has failed at, create another ISP service that is free, open, fast, and cheap.

    10. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      We need the government to build fiber to every residence in America and lease the glass to anyone that wants it.

      Learn your history. The government already paid the LECs a couple hundred billion to do this years ago.

      They squandered it all instead.

      Now the taxpayers are left holding that bag and some of the worst broadband infrastructure on the planet.

    11. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is exactly his point. If the choice is between a "free enterprise" monopoly like Comcast and a "government" monopoly like electricity or water, then the government monopoly is almost always less bad.

    12. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Unlikely. Price out your cable bill compared to your water or gas bill.

      I pay less for both (although gas+water, which are both from the city, is higher than Internet). But, if I use lots of water and/or gas it goes way up. So I guess Comcast is going for the same model. In fact, it would be very much like the water and gas model in my locality. I pay a minimum amount ($25 for gas and $35 for water) even if I use NONE. After a certain very basic level of each, they start charging. Exactly like Comcast is saying they are going to start doing.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    13. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's more deeper than that. That money was to be used to encourage competition between ISP's. The problem is that a lot of municipalities have extremely long deals arranged with the likes of Comcast, AT&T, Verizon etc to be the sole and only provider for services. These deals are similar to all the sole private garbage collection thugs where your services have become a hundred times worse because they no longer have to worry about any competition since winning the contract. There's a lot of deep routed corruption in these local jurisdictions which makes your life miserable living in them. I mean honestly, why can't I have Verizon fiber to my business where it's available down the street from me but I'm forced to use AT&T? They don't even want to offer me service even if I pay for all the engineering, permits equipment and contractors to give me fiber from 300 feet away. That's how ridiculous it is. We have the capital to build a better network, but we're not allowed because of some local legal mumbojumbo preventing us from doing so.

    14. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by mjwx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You pay a private company for water? Where is this Randian paradise in which you live?

      The third world where the water piped in isn't potable.

      As I've often said, the blind Randian believers need to go and live in a third world "libertarian paradise" for a few years where you can pay for absolutely anything and have to pay for absolutely everything. Want the police to help you, expect to shell out. Want the court to do anything, reach into those pockets. Need help from the government, dont expect it to come cheap.

      Living in a place like this is great... when you earn western levels of money and a yearly income of $25,000 USD makes you part of the 1%... but not when you're a regular working pleb doing 12 hour days for $4000 USD a year... All Hail Rand.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    15. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      You pay a private company for water? Where is this Randian paradise in which you live?

      We pay a privet co-op for water out where I live south west Washington. Co-op shares can be a bit spendy up front but that is a one time investment and the water bill isn't that after that, but we have been thinking of putting in a well more recently just to be more self sufficient and off of the grid.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    16. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      this would be a disaster for America, and CONcast.

      Why is it no surprise we are suppose to live in a "free country", " free market" and yet our politicians are pretty much hand puppets just shove your money up their ass and make them dance. And people keep voting for this baboons, and allowing industries and corporations to pretty much OWN them.

      I think the only hope we have right now is if enough yuppies get together and actually do something Gaagle has failed at, create another ISP service that is free, open, fast, and cheap.

      By "Gaagle" do you mean Google if so what do you mean they have failed they are still expanding and delivering g.b.p.s. internet speeds and prices from other providers they are competing with have dropped where google has gone in and their speeds have gone up to match.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    17. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      Good luck with that to hold successful revolution would need a significant portion of the citizenry to join you, one guy with a gun is a is target practice.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    18. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      Yea, just like our electricity, oh wait. I mean like telephone service, no. Television, that's it, oops. Can't say water or sewer either, I live out of town and have a well, septic, and private trash pickup.

      highway system and postal service.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    19. Re: Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Caps and throttling are cable companies' attempt to fight off internet video. They want to keep profit margins high, which contrasts with lower profit margins of most internet companies.

      Basically they don't want to be a generic pipe you use to buy stuff. They want you buying from them. You see this in cellular carriers, but there are MVNOs in that industry.

      I think the simplest solution is to vertically separate the infrastructure from the service. One company (or municipality) owns the network while third parties provide services whether TV, Internet, or something.

    20. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by apraetor · · Score: 1

      Power, water, garbage collection -- the price you pay is based on their variable costs, which are tied to tangible goods you are consuming (fuel, space in truck for trash collection). Internet service has high fixed costs for the providers, but the variable costs aren't proportionally as high. Leaving that debate aside, though.. those services are all either regulated, semi-regulated, or based on competitive bidding at fixed intervals. That's not how the cable monopolies are structured, though.

    21. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 1

      >Trash company - ok

      Where do you live that the trash company isn't a wholly owned subsidiary of Mafia, Inc? I've never heard of such a thing.

      --
      Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    22. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on the size of the gun, 12 x 200CM Hellbores pouring out somewhere around 750Megatons of firepower per second, hell, one gun would take out the entire eastern seaboard. And good riddance.

    23. Re: Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot to split off content providers as well - they *MUST* be separate.

      Just make the infrastructure common carrier, ie, anyone can use, just like the phone lines.
      Same with the cellular network infrastructure.

      Watch the cable / cellular giants crumble.

    24. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's why he had to put the 'ok' next to it.

    25. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Regulated utilities provide water, natural gas, trash pickup, and power to the majority of americans already.
      Either through a municipal entity (local government workers) or a private company that holds a contract with the municipality.

      Either way, if it's behaviour begins to get unruly and you're unable to force their hand through the market (by cutting back usage of the service), you can also slap them down in the voting booth, which is easier to do on the local level.*

      (*for now...the Koch's and ALEC are begining to try and buy local elections too)

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    26. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "some of the worst broadband infrastructure on the planet" might be stretching it a little. Broadband infrastructure quality in wealthy countries is roughly proportional to population density. I don't think the USA is far outside the norm. It's a big country compared to many of the european or asian countries touted as having excellent broadband infrastructure.

    27. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

      Any place served by American Water.

      Randian Paradise Haw Haw.

    28. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

      Mafia owned companies are some of the best run and most customer friendly. They are in it for the long haul, not to just make a quick buck.

    29. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As I've often said, the blind Randian believers need to go and live in a third world "libertarian paradise" for a few years where you can pay for absolutely anything and have to pay for absolutely everything. Want the police to help you, expect to shell out. Want the court to do anything, reach into those pockets. Need help from the government, dont expect it to come cheap.

      Um, it's called "Taxes".

    30. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by mgcarley · · Score: 1

      Careful... I got called a communist and a "useful idiot" (whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean) by some nutjobs (including Phil Kerpen and his friends) on Twitter the other night for suggesting something akin to this (and supporting Net Neutrality/Title II).

      They (well, mostly Phil) couldn't present a rational argument or identify the specific clauses they (he) disagree(s) with so they all just went full-retard and resorted to name calling. Of course, being a nerd, I've dealt with far worse in my lifetime so I couldn't help but chuckle.

      --
      Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
    31. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by mgcarley · · Score: 1

      They really don't. I've yet to see a single franchise agreement that says "sole" or "exclusive".

      The problem is that the companies (or municipalities, or both) find *other* ways to stymie the deployment of alternatives (high pole connection fees, stalling permits, lawsuits galore -- just to name a few).

      One public works director even told me to go wireless.

      --
      Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
    32. Re:Monopolistic thuggish behavior by mgcarley · · Score: 1

      India is far from a "Randian paradise" yet has all those features - to the point where sometimes I think India is even more capitalistic than the US (and I'm not from either country).

      They call it "baksheesh" - I used to resist paying baksheesh A LOT but now (and it wasn't until after I came to the US that I realized) I kind of see it as a cross between a token of appreciation (like a tip, which in the US is acceptable in certain situations) and a bribe (being that it's not just limited to restaurants).

      And in a weird and twisted way it sort of works, although the quality of anything isn't very high - case in point being potable water - but to combat that, I can just buy a big 30-something litre (10 gallons or so) of drinking water for about $1.

      BUT, probably the reason for the system actually "functioning" is not because you have to "tip" for every little thing, but because the amounts are so small (a few hundred rupees or maybe $5 tops - affordable even for the Indian middle-class) - unlike the US where you'd probably be looking at something like a hundred dollars for each thing (so, not so affordable even for the US middle-class).

      Of course, it's not just limited to public entities - paying an extra $3-5 (equivalent) directly to the installer will get your phone service connected tomorrow instead of next month, so keeping in mind that India's middle class income is around US$10k these days (about 30% up in the 6-ish years I've been involved with that country), so to get a realistic comparison, a worker in the US accepting a "tip" for faster service or whatever could only be in the vicinity of about $15-25.

      --
      Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
  5. come on Google Fiber by Dan667 · · Score: 5, Informative

    everywhere Google Fiber has set up shop has completely changed the landscape of what these legacy internet providers offer. Google's rollout cannot happen fast enough and even if comcast matches it people will still dump them due to these types of policies.

    1. Re:come on Google Fiber by machineghost · · Score: 3, Informative

      The problem is, Google Fiber isn't some product they're rolling out slowly, but eventually to the whole country. Instead, it's jut one of their little experiments. As much as we'd all love them to, Google has expressed no interest in becoming America's ISP (or at least not any time soon).

    2. Re:come on Google Fiber by dontbemad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Atlanta resident, here.
      I'm currently paying Comcast a pretty hefty premium for 50 Mbps speeds with a 300 Gb cap every month (which is pretty easy to reach when you torrent and stream a good deal). Google Fiber is possibly coming here in the next year or so, and I can not be happier about it. Even with Google's "reckless spying", supposed GFiber outages, and everything else, what Google is really doing here is a forcing competition in a market that hasn't seen the legitimate face of that... well... ever.

    3. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google is fast becoming Xerox PARC. One can only hope that in 20 years we have another trio of silicon valley pirates to take the ideas and make them reality. Xerox was once king of the world with a very long term one trick pony (The Xerox machine, of course). Google has a long-term one trick pony (turn their users into a product they market and sell to others), and a lot of promising tech that they keep behind closed doors, occasionally allowing a few items to escape for whatever reason, but not for long.

      Oh well, as a BOFH, I never liked their google's "products" anyways.

    4. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But that would upset the free market for internet access that we currently enjoy thanks to the hard work of Comcast and Verizon.

      If you know what's good for you then you won't rock the boat, Mr. Marxist.

    5. Re:come on Google Fiber by Trogre · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is there anyone here who is using Google Fiber?

      I would be curious to know how well home servers (www, email, SSH) perform when on this, especially given Google Fiber's original prohibitive TOS and Google's desire for you to keep everything on their servers. I see they have updated their TOS since the EFF kicked up a stink, but would like to hear from anyone who is actually using it.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    6. Re:come on Google Fiber by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Do you even know what you are talking about?

      What he mentioned about google fiber is the epitome of free market.

    7. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      your sarcasm detector needs checking

    8. Re:come on Google Fiber by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Everywhere huh? Google Fiber serves less than 10,000 people (last I checked) out of over 300 million in this country. Google shows up in a town, then asks people to sign up, and only installs where the capacity is concentrated. This ensures the highest amount of profit possible. I keep coming into these threads and trying to explain this but Slashdot seems to be completely oblivious to how ISPs work. Yes, to the tiny part of the country google is offering service they are doing great. But they are never coming to your house... not unless you live in a major metropolitan area. The problem with internet access in this country is not located where Google is offering service. When some rural town gets Google fiber, let me know... then they'll be on to something. But this? They're offering service in areas that are already flooded with ISP options, this is not progress.

    9. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I'm currently paying Comcast a pretty hefty premium for 50 Mbps speeds with a 300 Gb cap every month

      I'm about 100 miles to the north of you in Chattanooga.
      Along with about 70,000 of my closest friends we are paying $60/month for 100mbps or $70/month for 1gbps - symmetric.
      Just sayin.

    10. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're offering service in areas that are already flooded with ISP options, this is not progress.

      You're missing the point. They're offering competition in areas that are already flooded with ISP options which are overpriced, underdelivering, deceptive in practice, near impossible to cancel, and which have the worst customer service ever . Thus putting said ISP options on the spot to shape up or lose their customers. This is why customers in areas within their coverage are ecstatic and I will wager that to said customers, Google Fiber is very substantial and real progress.

    11. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Decreasing prices and providing increased quality of service is not progress?

    12. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >They're offering service in areas that are already flooded with ISP options, this is not progress.

      2 is your idea of 'flooded'?

    13. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're offering competition in areas that are already flooded with ISP options which are overpriced, underdelivering, deceptive in practice, near impossible to cancel, and which have the worst customer service ever.

      It is extremely easy to cancel any service. Stop paying for it. They will cancel your service for you.

    14. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google is doing something interesting in Provo, UT. From their FAQ:

      We purchased the existing fiber-optic network owned by the city of Provo. As part of the acquisition, we've upgraded the network to ultra-fast gigabit technology and will finish network construction so that homes along the original network will have the opportunity to connect to Google Fiber.

      It's pretty clear that the experiment is interesting to them, but we'll see. The former iProvo network was pretty widespread, but failed to offer services for various reasons (mostly financial). The infrastructure was there, and Google snatched it up for a buck and the promise of free access to residents after their $30 setup fee, which is increasing to $300 soon.

      It was almost enough to make me move down there. I'm hoping it takes off and Google buys out our UTOPIA (FTTH) initiative for the rest of northern Utah. Interestingly, our major municipalities (Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo) are NOT participating in UTOPIA, while the surrounding smaller townships generally are.

    15. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, Google should have first deployed in some backwater rural area, increasing how much they have to pay per potential customer. That's the best way to handle a commercial experiment, be as inefficent and inviting of trouble as possible.

    16. Re:come on Google Fiber by rjr3 · · Score: 1

      I live in Johnson County , Kansas .
      They have pretty much run fiber in the entire county.

      My signup period started yesterday. Yep, I click through.

    17. Re:come on Google Fiber by tburkhol · · Score: 1

      They're offering service in areas that are already flooded with ISP options, this is not progress.

      That's a bit of hyperbole, isn't it? Yes, google is rolling out to relatively high-density neighborhoods, but none of these are "flooded" with ISP options. At best, they have one cable option, one FIOS option, and one DSL option. To the best of my knowledge, there is nowhere in this country that you can choose between two cable providers.

      You may also be forgetting that, when the incumbent ISPs were themselves startups, they didn't offer much in the way of rural service, either. In fact, most of them had to be paid by the government (and are still being paid by the government) to extend service outside of the most profitable neighborhoods.

      Of course, that was 20-50 years ago, so you can be forgiven for imagining that Comcast launched in 1969 to 100,000,000 homes scattered across 80,000 square miles. I, for one, am happy to see anything vaguely resembling a new entrant in communication services. If they can only roll out to one city block, or even just one apartment complex, and provide better, faster or cheaper service than the legacy behemoths, I'll be happy to see them succeed.

    18. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is extremely easy to cancel any service. Stop paying for it. They will cancel your service for you

      Strangely, no. Most of them will continue to provide service to delinquent accounts for months, happily adding late charges and negative notations to your credit record. They will eventually turn the deliquent account over to a debt collector or a court. If you're holding some of their equipment, like a cable box, you may even be charged with theft (although that's pretty unlikely). They will remember exactly how much you still owe them for service that they refused to disconnect for a very long time. "Unpaid account" in your credit report will raise the cost of major purchases (car/house) and will reduce your ability to rent a different apartment or get a different job.

    19. Re:come on Google Fiber by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up.

      Sure, you can fight it, but the sad fact of the matter is it'll take so much time and effort to clear your good name that unless you're making minimum wage, it's far cheaper just to pay the hush money.

    20. Re:come on Google Fiber by Afty0r · · Score: 1

      Is Google Fibers current operations profitable?

      I'm curious. If it sounds too good to be true... maybe it is?

    21. Re:come on Google Fiber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where is this magical place you are describing that is "flooded" with ISP options? Here in Atlanta, where Google will be rolling out next year, we have two options, Comcast and AT&T. Is your definition of an ISP flood 2 providers?

    22. Re:come on Google Fiber by mitzoe · · Score: 1

      To the best of my knowledge, there is nowhere in this country that you can choose between two cable providers.

      In my town, we have a choice between Time Warner (soon to be Comcast, I suppose) and WOW!

    23. Re:come on Google Fiber by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      https://fiber.google.com/newcities/ - 34 cities in planning phases.

      I don't think it is "just a little experiment". What I see Google doing is continuing to expand until the pressure is great enough that other ISP's are forced to offer better solutions. Google will just keep on marching along until Comcast/Verizon etc.., have no choice but to start offering GB connections at sane prices. But even then, why would Google stop the expansion?

      Here, see what Google has to say about their goals:
      http://gigaom.com/2012/07/26/the-economics-of-google-fiber-and-what-it-means-for-u-s-broadband/

      “There’s no sense selling a product at a loss,” said Google CFO Patrick Pichette (just look at Google’s Nexus 7 tablet). “But it’s not only about profits, it’s about changing the access costs.” His goal and Google’s goal is to bring the same efficiencies that have helped create cheaper, smaller and more powerful computers and create a cost and improvement curve for broadband access that resembles the curves for compute storage, as the chart below illustrates.

    24. Re:come on Google Fiber by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Google isn't attempting to serve every home. The stated goal is to make sure that the majority of people have fast (1GB+) connections at reasonable rates (currently ~70 dollars a month) as well as free basic connections for everyone.

      They call this 'changing the access cost'. Much the say same that hard drive capacity, cpu speed, etc.. has increased exponentially over time, Google wants to see that happen in the broadband world. Google will continue expanding until ISP's either have no choice but to match them, or are driven out of the market. Google is making money on it, so why would they stop?

      see - http://gigaom.com/2012/07/26/the-economics-of-google-fiber-and-what-it-means-for-u-s-broadband/

      Also, 34 more cities are in planning stages right now.

    25. Re:come on Google Fiber by machineghost · · Score: 1

      Right, so you can interpret that as "Google's going to become America's ISP", or you can take it as "Google's going to try and poke/prod the industry to change by doing its little experiments in a select number of cities and demonstrating what's possible". Based on what they've said outside that quote it seems to me like the latter interpretation is correct.

    26. Re:come on Google Fiber by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Google is making money being an ISP (so they say), so why would they stop expanding?

      Even the direct monthly ISP bills to consumers aside, it would be hugely in Google's interest to be able to 'see' more and more internet traffic. Google makes most its money by watching and tracking user behavior, and serving up ads. Being the ISP in addition to the search engine would be a powerful combination. Maybe too powerful...

  6. But what of Netflix by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, what will Netflix do when a customer can't get access to the data that they paid Comcast to deliver to said customer?

    1. Re:But what of Netflix by jxander · · Score: 3, Informative

      Comcast is getting to double-dip from Netflix with the new agreement you mentioned... why not go for the triple dip and charge customers extra on top of the extra they're charging Netflix, on top of the "unlimited" plans they're already selling.

      --
      This signature is false.
    2. Re:But what of Netflix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to the astroturfing ISP shills here like alen and charliemopps, Netflix simply needs to pay Comcast more money. Then some more (followed by even more) until Comcast+Verizon are equivalent to the AT&T of the '80s.

    3. Re:But what of Netflix by apraetor · · Score: 1

      Comcast will, in that hypothetical case, pressure Netflix into paying for their traffic to be exempt. Sounds a heck of a lot like a clever way to get around any potential "net neutrality" legislation.

    4. Re:But what of Netflix by Technician · · Score: 1

      They could start driving the customers to the competition. Some loss is acceptable to keep average selling price up, but there is a limit.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
    5. Re:But what of Netflix by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      There could be a technical valid reason for it: Comcast could host Netflix owned servers that provide Netflix in their network. That way the traffic doesn't actually go over the internet (except to keep the servers up to date).
      The payment would be for service, power and stuff like that.
      It sucks for net neutrality but for the reliability of the Netflix service it would be great.
      They just have to do the same for all other streaming providers. Somehow I'd doubt they feel that wasy.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
    6. Re:But what of Netflix by stms · · Score: 1

      I imagine the conversation will go much like the last 3 frames of this comic

    7. Re:But what of Netflix by joocemann · · Score: 2

      What competition? I have comcast. I do not want comcast. I want internet access.... I have comcast. :(

      In the name of all of their nasty business practices, I have wanted to cancel service for a long time. But my government is failing at anti-trust law. My culture and society is absolutely dependent on internet access. Thus, my government is failing me and forcing me to give money to bad people that do not deserve my money.

    8. Re:But what of Netflix by zero.kalvin · · Score: 1

      That's the clever part (on Comcast's part), if the costumer is not paying to receive the content they are not really guilty of anything!

  7. It's not money laundring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The money was just as dirty afterwards.

    1. Re:It's not money laundring by geekmux · · Score: 1

      The money was just as dirty afterwards.

      When you're arrogant to stand in the face of government and call a data cap anything but, there's no need for laundering.

  8. Semantics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes, it's technically not a cap because you can exceed it. No, this argument didn't work for cellular carriers. Bill shock was invented by AT&T first.

    1. Re:Semantics by crbowman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you claim (in large print) to be selling me unlimited internet access and are then charging me more when I go over some limit, then yes it's a cap, and the FTC dam well ought to be going in and bitch slapping any company doing this type of thing even if they put an asterix with words in tiny print to the effect of "when we say unlimited what we really mean is as long as you don't exceed the limits we actually put on it"

  9. What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by swb · · Score: 2

    And in most areas, how "full" is the coax line between my house and the fiber node? Ie, how much of the usable coax bandwidth has been allocated to cable channels, on-demand viewing, phone service, alarm monitoring, and Internet access?

    Has switching from NTSC analog to all those HD channels (even though they are compressed, etc) been a net gain in usable bandwidth on the coax or just a wash?

    I always just wonder if Comcast isn't just trying to keep that coax cable capable of handing TV and Internet by various means of suppressing bandwidth consumption on Internet usage.

    The suck for Comcast is when that coax cable "runs out" of bandwidth and there's no room to cram yet another HD sports channel on. A project to migrate from coax to fiber would be a total nightmare for them.

    I'm not trying to defend or justify anything they do, I'm sure it's at least half oriented towards nickle and diming and profiting off of manufactured scarcity but coax cable shared by many dwellings seems like a major bottleneck that will eventually have to be addressed and it will not be cheap.

    1. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Cute+Fuzzy+Bunny · · Score: 4, Informative

      If I recall correctly, the same amount of space a television channel uses is around 10-12Mb/s of continuous data. Current modems can bond 12+ channels. The more that people stream instead of requiring live tv, the more channels can be allocated to internet. Each modem can be configured to use different channels. While there is one piece of wire from the street to your house, there are many piece of coax AND backup unused cable throughout your neighborhood. Each neighborhood has a junction with bazoodles of cable to it and probably fiber.

      So the short answer is they can allocate gigabits of data streams in your neighborhood, and with numerous backbone options from there to the main office they have all the bandwidth they need for the foreseeable future. And it doesn't 'run out', it just gets slower at the shared wire level for the user. Which is why netflix looks like crap at 7PM every night.

    2. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by apraetor · · Score: 2

      Cable internet doesn't require every modem in a town to share the same limited spectrum. Similar to the way DSLAMs would be put into each neighborhood to terminate DSL, cable companies use CMTS (cable modem termination systems). The cable company deploys HFC (hybrid fiber-coaxial) boxes which each contain a CMTS; each of these can serve several thousand cable modems, depending mostly on the amount of available channels (read: not used for TV) for use on the coax and the amount of bandwidth being allotted to each modem. This system still requires *some* fiber, but far less than FTTH. This configuration also allows for each HFC to have multiple CMTS units inside it -- so as bandwidth requirements per household rise the cable company can add more CMTSs and further subdivide the networks.

    3. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Kjella · · Score: 2

      Well, from the looks of it a coax cable can carry anywhere from 1000-1500 6MHz channels @ 42.88 Mbit/s so 42-63 Gbit/s, subtract TV channels (200 @ 10 Mbit? = 2 Gbit/s), divide by number of subscribers sharing the rest. It shouldn't take that much money to cut a loop in half though, just pick a midpoint and run two coax cables straight to the central office. Considering how rapidly things progress with competition I really doubt there's any technical difficulty in delivering more.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    4. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by adolf · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And it doesn't 'run out', it just gets slower at the shared wire level for the user. Which is why netflix looks like crap at 7PM every night.

      No. Netflix looks like crap at 7PM every night because they ditched Akamai and started their own CDN which is typically backhauled by Cogent, and Cogent tends to have terrible connectivity.

    5. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Well, from the looks of it a coax cable can carry anywhere from 1000-1500 6MHz channels

      Vote me down, I can't do math... 600 MHz-900 MHz/6 MHz bands is 100-150 channels, not 1000-1500 so 4-6 Gbit total for the loop...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    6. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      Comcast needs to move HD to MPEG 4 and that can free up a lot of room / add more HD and down the road get rid of SD channels that are also in HD and put the SD only stuff in MPEG 4 SD. Also maybe some SDV for the part time / overflow feeds.

      There are some 1 GHz cable systems (not Comcast) Comcast still has some old 650mhz systems.

    7. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While there is one piece of wire from the street to your house, there are many piece of coax AND backup unused cable throughout your neighborhood. Each neighborhood has a junction with bazoodles of cable to it and probably fiber.

      When they first laid the cables there was no incentive for a lot spare cables. This means they have to upgrade already in many places as companies really didn't (and still don't) want to spent more than they need to cover the current base.

    8. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by NoKaOi · · Score: 1

      The suck for Comcast is when that coax cable "runs out" of bandwidth and there's no room to cram yet another HD sports channel on.

      The problem here isn't simply that they are unable to deliver unlimited bandwidth. The problem is they charge you for it even though they can't deliver it, and they know they can't deliver it when they sell it to you. The non-fraudulent way to say it would be "$A for the first B GBs, plus $C for every additional GB." Instead, they say, "$A for unlimited."

    9. Re:What's the max bandwidth of coax cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Also, Comcast is trying to make Netflix pony up fees for the bandwidth entering the Comcast network. Netflix is not paying.

  10. data burqa? by turkeydance · · Score: 5, Funny

    cap/burka/asshat...whatever.

    1. Re:data burqa? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you download your porn with the data burqa on, you only get to see a glimmer of the eyes before additional charges are added to your connection bill. When the data asshat is on, your porn is not loaded below the waist line without additional charges.

  11. Unlimited data = unlimited money?? by wyoung76 · · Score: 1

    Right.. in their world, that's perfectly reasonable to call it an unlimited plan...

  12. Like it or not Comcast is correct by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

    Like it or not Comcast is correct. They don't have caps, they don't shut the people who go over their allotted bandwidth. They make them pay for going over the allotment. Word games but Comcast in this point they are right. But they are doing so much more wrong, like steal peoples electricity and make them pay for the privilege everything they do is bad lol.

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
    1. Re:Like it or not Comcast is correct by jxander · · Score: 1

      The problem becomes the sales pitch: "Unlimited Internet, No data caps... $100"

      And an extra $20 for going over the unlimited threshold

      And another $40 penalty for consecutive over-your-threshold months

      --
      This signature is false.
    2. Re:Like it or not Comcast is correct by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      I agree unlimited internet should be just that. See the problem isn't Comcast or the rest of them Its our law makers who allow them to twist words Unlimited means something very different then what it really means. Or 100% pure juice isn't and doesn't mean 100% pure juice. Keep voting in businessmen and lawyers looking out for there own interest nothing going to change. But Comcast is right, they don't have caps

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
  13. Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suspect the plan is to get these "Caps" in place prior to broader adoption of 4K TV services. Once 4K catches on the users will have a choice of routinely exceeding their 300GB/month limit or buying their 4K content from Comcast who will likely not count their content toward the monthly data limit. Might be a nice way to tilt business away from other content providers such as Amazon, Vudu, etc.

    Regarding these "Caps" I had quite the conversation with Comcast before I dropped them and had to settle for DSL without a cap. First of all, the cap kicks in at 300GB/month, after that you are charged $10 for each subsequent 50GB allotment. This rate is higher than the $/GB before you exceed their limit. There is no rollover for unused GB's. So, if you go on vacation and only use 100GB in August you can not carry the unused amount into July or subsequent months.

    The plan is like cell phone plans years ago. Higher, 'gotcha' rates if you go over. No rollover minutes. You can buy business service from Comcast at a higher rate, a 2 year obligation, and they must own the modem. This effectively doubles your monthly rate before they started the unlimited plan you used to have before the limits were imposed.

    I think it is fare to charge for higher usage. However, the overage fees are prohibitive and will subsequently block the open adoption of future bandwidth intensive services for vendors other than Comcast. I am hoping a new wireless standard will jump past Comcast's copper infrastructure.

    1. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by TFlan91 · · Score: 1

      >> So, if you go on vacation and only use 100GB in August you can not carry the unused amount into July or subsequent months.

      Cause the calendar is, if I may, counter-calendar now?

    2. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chances are you'll go over by a good 20-30gb anyways while you were gone.
      It's your fault that your router is not secured.
      Yes, even though it was not plugged in.
      Yes, even though there was no electricity anywhere but the kitchen so the freezer won't give out.

      Just admit you're pirating already.

    3. Re: Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The internet destroyed newspapers. It can destroy cable companies thanks to streaming. The profits on selling television must be massive and Comcast produces and distributes TV shows and movies now.

      Throttling and caps are anti-competitive actions against Netflix and others. Comcast doesn't want to be a generic pipe. The profit margins aren't as high.

      Vertically separating the infrastructure (cables/wires) from the service (Internet, television) is a possible solution. Municipalities could own the infrastructure in less profitable areas (rural) while third parties sell access. It's sort of like MVNOs but for the internet.

    4. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      Comcast 4K?? they are way behind dish / directv and other cable co's right now as well being loaded with lot's of very old cable boxes still in use / and given out to new subs / people swapping out old failed boxes.

    5. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by kramerd · · Score: 2

      I have business service from Comcast (there are no reliable alternatives in my city). It is actually $4 per month cheaper, since I use my own modem. Turns out that isn't a problem, and you don't have to rent it. That being said, I have just as many internet outages as when I had Comcast residential internet service, and it certainly isn't any faster. I just don't have data caps anymore.

    6. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by fafalone · · Score: 2

      Even 1080p could push people over the limit. Getting everything I can in HD, 1080p if available, (e.g. all movies and maybe 2/3rds of TV) I've averaged just over 300GB/month for the last 24 months, even hitting 720GB one month. And I'm the only person on this connection. You get a whole family on the line (or god forbid 3 college kids sharing an apartment), and exceeding it is probably already common.
      This is squarely targeted at those not getting their TV from Comcast NOW. No need to wait for 4K. I suspect they won't do this is areas where they have competition. I've had Optimum and now FiOS in my current home, and neither have these caps. Meanwhile my old house, where it was Comcast or 2Mbps DSL, was one of the very first places they rolled out caps to, and it was 200GB.

    7. Re:Pre-emptive stance prior to 4K TV services by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you go on vacation and only use 100GB in August you can not carry the unused amount into July or subsequent months .

      This is proof! There are Time Lords living amongst us.

  14. Refund Time by pubwvj · · Score: 1

    So Comcast won't mind refunding all those fees for over data use. Hello class action lawsuit and government sanctions!

  15. They want websites to pay for exempt status by apraetor · · Score: 2

    Comcast wants to do what AT&T does -- pressure 3rd party service providers, such as Netflix, to pay a "fee" in exchange for their traffic being exempted from monthly usage limits.

  16. Brilliant by ruir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I once run the IT department of an ISP, and data caps were a substancial source of the revenue. Lets say it could reach to 1/3 of our Internet net revenue, some months exceeding it. To be fair, at the time the international bandwidth was severely constrained, and in a post p2p world, you would have a change without some form of control. However, we were very clear about it, those were data caps, period.What I should call it nowadays then? Voluntary taxes? Net speeding fine? Tax for changing to the competition? One is always learning...

    1. Re:Brilliant by NettiWelho · · Score: 1

      .... those were data caps, period.What I should call it nowadays then? Voluntary taxes? Net speeding fine? Tax for changing to the competition? One is always learning...

      I think the proper business terminology here is 'fucking the customer'.

    2. Re:Brilliant by ruir · · Score: 1

      Normally you could say that. As a couple of anecdotal stories, I was called in some more difficult cases...despite customers having access to reports and having automated warnings about exceeding the data caps, which were in the package and in the contract, they only complained after the fines. I found more than once opens wifis, wifis with their password cracked, with defaullt passwords, and I believe I found once a "hacked" wifi point (it was more certain probably someone unscrupulous neighbour bribed the servants to press the reset button in the wifi router). I was also a direct contact to some higher ups in a couple of government agencies, where, despite I telling them that they could save a lot of money moving to higher contracts, and they were paying a lot because they employees where abusing the connection with p2p, nothing was done about it and they preferred to pay the fines than intervening at the political level.

    3. Re:Brilliant by jeauxkewl · · Score: 1

      I think the proper business terminology here is 'fucking the customer'.

      ^^ This. Truer words were never spoken.

  17. Its all a zero sum game by Cute+Fuzzy+Bunny · · Score: 1

    Cable tv is a leaking ship and losing subscribers by the day. In a few years most content will be streamed. If you are losing money on the television end of the business, you have to make it up on the streaming end. Satellite is the same except they don't have the kind of internet end that comcast has. This is why Dish is doing the 'over the top' offering later this year. They're going to offer 'basic cable' as a streaming, non satellite option. This is why comcast is buying time warner. They'll basically own the pipe and will jack up the price to offset declining tv revenues and the more you 'watch', the more you'll pay.

    We don't have the 300M cap here yet, but we will and comcast is the only high speed provider anywhere in my county. They also charge more here than they do where uverse/verizon/dsl is available.

    I had considered cutting the cord this year and going with a big antenna I have in my attic (83 channels), netflix/hulu/amazon and some specific channel streaming (TNT, Disney) to save some $$$. But then I saw what comcast was doing with the caps and extra charges in other areas and realized I'd just be paying $120+ for internet instead of $60 for internet and $60 for tv.

    Since the head of the FCC is the former head of the cable lobby and the head of the cable lobby is the former head of comcast, it looks like the political revolving door will assure that this will come to fruition.

    Google will never run fiber to anywhere near a majority of homes. The phone company doesn't even offer DSL in that broad a manner.

    1. Re: Its all a zero sum game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's probably not Google's goal to run fiber to everyone. They really want the high density areas ( read that business customers ) and that scares the shit out of folks like AT&T.

      It is no coincidence they are rolling out Gigabit connections at every location where they have a fiber presence. The thought of Google taking their customers away scares the hell out of them.

    2. Re:Its all a zero sum game by thejynxed · · Score: 1

      Except in PA, where Verizon is required by the Commonwealth to roll out and offer DSL even in the most rural of areas if enough of the neighbors get together and decide they want it.

      Results vary in other States/Commonwealths, of course.

      And of course, we also have Comcast and Time Warner, with Comcast having their headquarters in Philadelphia.

      --
      @Mindless Drivel: 100% of Twitter posts ever Tweeted.
    3. Re:Its all a zero sum game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe Google won't run fiber themselves, but they certainly won't pass up buying existing infrastructure if they can. See iProvo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IProvo and Google Fiber Kansas City https://fiber.google.com/cities/kansascity/support/

  18. Mafia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...and the mafia will tell you that "extortion" is "protection" and that "murder" is "cleaning up the mess".

  19. There is no cap if you have money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We'll give you a 100$/month internet that is 800x slower than what they're rolling out in Korea as long as you stay below a couple gigabytes. Then there is no cap if you're willing to pay extra money per gigabyte past that. See no cap!

  20. All lies... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look, if you say the customers need to pay more once they exceed a certain amount, that's what we call a "cap". If anything goes right up to that magical number and suddenly your wallet catches on fire, it's a cap. If you didn't have a cap, you wouldn't be charging anybody anything for those extra bytes.

  21. one word for it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SCAM

  22. Kinda like speed limits by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure, you can drive as fast as you want. However, if you travel from point A to point B at a rate quicker than 65MPH, we will charge you a fee. If you travel at a rate quicker than 80MPH, we will charge a greater fee and arbitrarily revoke your driving privileges.

    Captcha: extort

  23. Depends on a lot of things by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2

    The main question is how many channels are allocated for DOCSIS. Each channel gets you about 38mbps of bandwidth, though more can be had on newer standards with 4096QAM (if the SNR is good enough to support it). So if there's 4 downstream channels then a max of about 152mbps total down (upstream is separate).

    How many channels can they add? Not sure with current DOCSIS specs, but the wire limits are either 600mhz for old systems, or 1ghz for most new ones. So you cold probably get in the range of 166 total channels or 6gbps or so. Of course in reality, some of those channels have to go to TV and so on.

    Now DOCSIS 3.1 is adding new methods for operation and supposedly will pull 10gbps down. Not sure how much of that is tested and how much of that is pipe dream but it is what the spec claims.

  24. So Comcast is doing Cellular? by mitcheli · · Score: 1

    Otherwise I think they got themselves all confuzzled. Cable modems and the such are unlimited. I guess alongside that award winning customer support recently documented and here and here, folks might want to seriously consider their Cox business.

    --
    Select from tblFriends where interesting >= 4;
  25. First you pay for speed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then you pay again for data!

  26. Re:and yet by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    Right.

    The way Slashdot hid a -1 comment made it appear as if the post I was responding to was intended as a "the government would be worse" post, while in truth it was in response to such a post.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  27. A speed limit by justthinkit · · Score: 1

    A speed limit, with the 50GB for $10 penalties being repeated speeding tickets.

    --
    I come here for the love
  28. Such lying assholes ... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

    "effectively offer unlimited usage of our services because customers will have the ability to buy as much data as they want."

    So our unlimited isn't unlimited, and our caps aren't caps.

    This is like saying you have an all you can eat restaurant, where you pay for everything you eat individually under the notion that you can buy all you want.

    This is lying to consumers, deceptive marketing, and just plain bullshit.

    If the FTC or someone isn't giving them the smack down on this, then we can pretty much expect corporations to start making up their own meanings for words and getting away with it.

    Greedy bastards.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  29. George Orwell had it wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not the government rewriting reality, it's the corporations.

    We have ALWAYS been at war with AT&T-sia.

    Let's take a 5 minute Hate Break, k?

  30. not a cap ?!?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You transgress a limit, and then there is a penalty. That means that a limit exists.

    Whether you choose to call it a cap, a ceiling, a line, or a threshold - it is a cap.
    Or a tax.

  31. Wait... by Chibi+Merrow · · Score: 1

    What competition?

    --
    Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
    Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
    1. Re: Wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Netflix sells television. Comcast sells television. There's your competition!

      Oh, wait...

    2. Re:Wait... by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      Verizon, in mot cities I've visited lately.

    3. Re:Wait... by Chibi+Merrow · · Score: 1

      Comcast and Verizon have an government-approved agreement to not compete. Comcast sold Verizon spectrum, and in return Verizon has stopped rolling out FIOS. Now you can walk into a Comcast store and buy Verizon Wireless Plans bundled with your cable sub, and buy Comcast subscriptions in Verizon Wireless stores in regions where FIOS isn't available.

      --
      Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
      Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
  32. There are liars... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are liars, there are damned liars, and then there is Comcast...

  33. I don't have a problem with that by Solandri · · Score: 1

    Customers must pay more if they exceed limits â" but it's not a cap,

    That's fine with me, if they'll also give me a refund if I don't reach my limit. After all, fair's fair, right? They estimate how much data I'll use when I sign up, and if I exceed it they charge me extra, if I don't reach it they charge me less.

  34. This call may be recorded by tepples · · Score: 1

    What realistically would have happened had one party said "this call may be recorded to ensure quality of service"? Then both parties would be on notice for the remainder of the call.

  35. FiOS by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    This is precisely why I go with the lesser of the evils, Verizon FiOS. I wouldn't give Comcast my money if they were the last ISP in the United States. I would simply just go with mobile broadband and stop streaming altogether if I had no alternative to Comcast. Really, all telecom companies are crooks but Comcast takes it to entirely new lows.

  36. Re:and yet by tepples · · Score: 1
    93 Escort Wagon wrote:

    The way Slashdot hid a -1 comment made it appear as if

    If you're replying to a post with a low score, especially Anonymous Coward, it may be a good idea to take a page from e-mail standard practice and state the nickname of the poster to whom you're replying. To fully avoid confusion, it might help to add multiple levels of quoting to provide enough context to interpret your post correctly even in isolation.

  37. That's only unlimited if by s0nicfreak · · Score: 1

    customers have unlimited money. Which I don't. You can't squeeze blood from a stone, Comcast... I'll just have to get new hobbies.

  38. They aren't lying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're Fabricating New Truth.

  39. Yes, an experiment like Gmail by raymorris · · Score: 2

    It was an experiment. One that was successful enough that they've decided to do 38 cities for the next phase. Gmail was an experiment. So was [insert long forgotten Google project here ]. Some of their experiments don't turn out, and Google shuts it down. Others take off, like Gmail. At this stage, Google has invested a couple hundred million dollars or so, so that shows a significant level of commitment- they're probably not going to shut it down tomorrow.

    One of the criteria Google uses to decide where to go next is the local competition. Comcast can probably convince Google to stay out of Milwaukee by offering 100 Mbps for $80. If Comcast is offering 10 Mbps for $80, Google knows they can get all of those customers. For consumers, we win if Comcast and AT&T keep Google at bay by offering a decent service at a different price, which is in fact happening in cities that Google is considering. Google wins by scaring the ISPs into offering faster service too - that means Comcast is providing a faster connection to YouTube, Gmail,and Google Docs.

  40. They don't really mean what they are saying.... by mark-t · · Score: 1
    "...customers will have the ability to buy as much data as they want"

    Because taken at face value, that comment means that they should be offering customers as much money as they need to get all of the data that their customers want. After all, if a customer don't have enough money to pay for it, then they don't really have the ability to buy it, do they?

  41. Re:and yet by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

    Right.

    The way Slashdot hid a -1 comment made it appear as if the post I was responding to was intended as a "the government would be worse" post, while in truth it was in response to such a post.

    Thats why I always try to remember to quote the person I am responding to because people will mode you down when they read you post out of context. I wish /. would force mods to browse at -1 while they have points.

    --
    ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
  42. Welcome to the free market by jd · · Score: 1

    Where providers are free to gouge and customers are free to... well... complain on Slashdot, but that's about it.

    It's only actually free when there's freedom. Freedom to choose between genuinely different providers is a start. If they go to the same tier 2 provider, then the that will define the prices and services, so isn't a choice at all. If they ARE the tier 2, then they're the ultimate source of services and pricetag for all the tier 3s out there.

    But there has to be more, since bandwidth throttling dictates bandwidth availability downstream. You can't sell what isn't there - unless you're Time-Warner or Comcast, of course. Try that with a physical product ("It'll cost you $elebenty, payable now, no refund, and if it doesn't do what we claim, that's not a lemon, that's the fault of some unidentified someone doing something somewhere somehow and we'd rather screw you than bother them"). So, freedom to know what you're actually buying and freedom to use statuary rights to obtain that product or a refund.

    This is actually one reason I'm a little unhappy with free software. It has been telling vendors that it's ok to not provide what is offered. Not so much by actually doing that - free software has been, in general, superb about being up-front about what it can and cannot do, known defects and limitations, etc. More by saying in the license that the producer is entitled to lie through his teeth without consequence. A quick look at Oracle's conduct shows that vendors have paid very close attention to that clause.

    Free Software relies on there being a viable alternative, that users can go elsewhere if dissatisfied. The resilience to fixing bugs in GCC and GLibC, in present and prior administrations, demonstrate that when viable alternatives are scant, such software is too complex to fork or replace unless it gets really, really bad. Which it has occasionally done.

    When it comes to cable companies, it's infinitely worse. You're not in a position to run fibre from your home to an alternative tier 2 in another State. Partly because of expense, partly because laws governing interstate activities make it impossible for private individuals, and partly because the cable companies would raise all hell, three quarters of bloody murder and a dash of pint of high water to stop you. Which would not be hard for them, all they need to do is to persuade the tier 2 provider to not sell the capacity. If that failed, they could keep you tied up in knots with the FCC over whether you were an unlicensed telecom operator or not. Mind you, some of you might like knots. I dunno. If all else failed, they could SWAT the people running the cable, get you listed for suspected terrorist ties, or just repeatedly run a backhoe through your cable until you got the message.

    You have no choice. You have no freedom. The cable operators have been redefining "monopoly" and "telecommunications" to whatever serves their purpose, not yours, and on multiple occasions. They have been free to do so because everyone likes simplified services and nobody in the States is going to vehemently oppose the "market at work". Even when it clearly doesn't. Not until it is far, far too late to stop things happening.

    And we're way past it being too far. It was too far when telecos started replacing copper for fibre at select spots. Supposedly to improve service (which never improved). The reality was that DSL companies competing with the teleco all went out of business where this happened. No great surprise, you can't run DSL over fibre and everyone knew it. It was too late when telephonic "service of last resort" stopped being mandatory in many States. It was too late when ADSL was all private users could buy, SDSL was only sold to select businesses.

    It was too late when rival multistate networks got bought up by the Big Telecos with not a murmur from anyone.

    It was not because these were fatal in themselves, it's because people had become too stupid and too utterly dependent on being spoonfed by corporate giants (wh

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  43. Great time for an experient, America by troll+-1 · · Score: 1
    This is perhaps a fertile and opportune time for an engineering solution. We should open up a chunk of the airways to the public and let everyone hack at it until something is found that works for everyone. People always talk about interference but I'm not aware of any limitations in physics on information density other than quantum bits. Other than the normal FCC power restrictions anyone should be able to use the airways. The current system doesn't innovate when it comes to interference because it doesn't have to. There's no incentive. There's no reason why every wireless device can't talk to every other wireless device in a mesh network other than FCC restrictions. Currently your iPhone or Android can talk to a tower but it can't talk to others around it on the same frequencies. Why not? The current system is inefficient. Is it not? Here is a list of ingredients for an experiment.
    1. 1. Some bandwidth. Get this at the next FCC auction. Crowdfund it.
    2. 2. A way to modify out phones s they can talk to each other.
    3. 3. Some mesh protocols so people can form networks.

    If the tragedy of the commons applies only to finite resources then the above network should be a lot more efficient than the current one. Remember now, Verizon, et al. It's just an experiment. You guys are engineers too, right?

    1. Re:Great time for an experient, America by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

      The latency inherent in a mesh network like this, due to the huge number of routing hops, would make it useless for phone calls.

      --
      Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
  44. Fruit of the poisonous tree by tepples · · Score: 2

    I don't know about Canada, but here in the States they have the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine that evidence from a constitutionally impermissible chain of investigation is inadmissible in court.

    1. Re:Fruit of the poisonous tree by cforciea · · Score: 1

      In the US, the independent source exclusion from the poisonous tree doctrine would apply and said recording would be admissible, unless the poster left out that his dad is also a police officer.

  45. Types of Caps by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Comcast: "The dunce-caps we are wearing are not really dunce-caps, but rather dandruff routing devices."

  46. So basically they're pushing $-per-MB again. by Chas · · Score: 1

    That's essentially what this is.

    Sure, you get an allotment up front.

    And for someone who does nothing but e-mail, it's overkill.

    But for anyone who uses an internet connection beyond that, it's basically a way to infinitely pad the bill.

    People aren't paying them $50-100 a month for a glorified e-mail connection.

    They're paying them $50-100 a month for an unlimited connection.

    And selling someone a 100MBit connection, then telling them you're going to start charging them MORE once they exceed 250GB (which is basically less than 1% total possible throughput), and oh yeah, watching more than a couple HD movies a month will put them over? Oh, and did they mention? They'll be playing with your connection to drop some of your traffic and de-prioritize others (that just happen to belong to direct competitors) so the performance sucks.

    You ARE limiting their connection. Because damn few working-class people can afford internet bills in the multiple hundreds of dollars every month.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  47. Right.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Global bandwidth transport rates are going down not up just like the rest of technology.. They care about one thing only $$$$ and ripping off high bandwidth users that most likely use under $5 a month of Crapcast cost is a great way for them to pad their bank accounts even more. Even places like Level 3 say major ISP's are ripping off customers and never even come close to their limits when they claim they're overloaded.

    http://blog.level3.com/global-connectivity/observations-internet-middleman/

  48. The "cap" is just the switch to metered billing by noidentity · · Score: 1

    Other utilities like electricity and water are billed based on usage. Comcast apparently only bills by usage once it goes over a certain amount, otherwise it's a fixed fee each month. A cap to me implies a hard limit, over which they would completely cut off service.

    1. Re:The "cap" is just the switch to metered billing by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

      The cap seems to be some where in the middle from being and hard limit and being usage based.

  49. Monopolistic thuggish behavior by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree. my website allows you to search for fiber http://www.dslone.net

  50. what about meter certification? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    A lot of bandwidth meters seems to be off / charge overhead data / control data and even change for resend / people trying to hit your modem even if it is trued off.

    1. Re:what about meter certification? by sabbede · · Score: 1

      They'll include it towards your cap.

  51. It's called 'bundling'. by Behrooz · · Score: 3, Informative

    I get the "bought" part, that is after all how lobbying works (it's not a secret), but how does one "sell" a politician? Do you mean that political parties are pimping out their people?

    It's called 'bundling'., where existing wealthy donors who have already contributed the legal maximum 'sell' the candidate to their friends and business associates, effectively leveraging their personal connections and access to shepherd more funds to the campaign.

    What has more political clout than one maxed-out contributor when it comes time to make policy? A fucking cartel of maxed-out contributors.

    Given that your average congresscritter spends ~20% of their working hours trolling for contributions just to have a decent shot at getting re-elected, you can imagine how influential successful bundlers are.

    Makes you wonder just how much we'd save by spending a couple billion a year on public financing of elections.

    --
    "We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin
  52. Metering by arobatino · · Score: 1

    I thought a "cap" is when you were simply cut off over a certain amount of data, and "metering" is when you can use as much as you want, but get charged per byte. By these definitions, Comcast isn't using caps, but metering.

  53. Not Data Caps by real+gumby · · Score: 1

    Nosir, these are Data Hoodies.

    No wait, they’re Data Mufflers. That’s right, Data Mufflers.

    Not the same thing at all. In fact we offer them free to our customers. They love them! They aren’t canceling the service (and we know they have a choice) — in fact they call and add new services!

    Here’s $50,000, half for you and half for ALEC. Now go run off and get re-elected. I’m off to play golf with Obama.

  54. Third world country by madak3 · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad for not living in a third-world-internet country like US. Here there's only caps and limits on celluar/UMTS/3G networks.

  55. My power company charges more after 650 KWH/mo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Would it be safe to say that my electricity usage has been capped? No, I simply have to start forking over more cents per unit. Same deal with Comcast. Exceed your 300 GB allotment, you start paying more per unit.

  56. China comparison... by Rick+in+China · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, in China, a 20mbit fibre package can cost you approx. $12 USD (varies by city). Electricity, for me, in Chengdu, costs about $20-$30 per month for a family of 3 in a reasonable size place with a lot of appliances, computers, and gratuitous 24/7 air purifiers running. Water is far less at maybe $15/month, and gas is also quite low around $15/month.

    Internet is extremely cheap. There is an option to bump it up to a 100mbit fibre connection in most areas, which runs a whopping $45 or so per month.

    Those are fixed prices, because traffic is unlimited - and speed tests from everyone I know who runs the various speeds actually come in at close to the advertised speeds for downstream traffic (although upstream is usually like, 2mbit in comparison).

    Unlimited. Oh, and no DMCA, nobody gives a FUCK what you download - as long as you don't need a VPN to connect to the content (which is like 99.9% of the torrents in the world) in which case make sure you get a VPN provider that ignores DMCA :D

    1. Re:China comparison... by Rick+in+China · · Score: 1

      I should add. Fibre packages aforementioned often include IPTV in those monthly costs. And - that IPTV includes tons of movie channels and western TV channels as well. :D Yay for media in China, surprisingly enough, for anyone with enough sense to get a VPN for youtube and google services it's actually a relative dreamscape compared to places like the US or UK.

    2. Re:China comparison... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yeah, no one cares what you download. What about what you actually say?

    3. Re:China comparison... by negge · · Score: 1

      This is the case in many parts of the world. Capping data is not even heard of in Finland, and I really mean it. There is not a single provider (no matter how big or small) that will cap your data. It doesn't matter if you transfer terabytes per month, no one cares about it. The data scarcity myth perpetuated by American ISPs and we regularly laugh about it over here. Even mobile data is unlimited in Finland, even LTE. I have a friend who pushes hundreds of gigabytes per month over his LTE subscription. I myself have a multi-SIM unlimited 3G subscription that I got years ago, and another friend of mine uses the other SIM card as his only internet connection (it's connected to his PC). He's not a heavy user, the usual monthly total is between 50 and 100 GB.

      I am neither kidding or exaggerating, this is how it is, and how it should be for that matter.

    4. Re:China comparison... by Rick+in+China · · Score: 1

      Offtopic, wouldn't expect more from AC, but..:

      Less than they care in the US lately. School kids arrested for saying they killed their neighbours dinosaur?

      I regularly have discussions online -- including via China's weixin network -- about the gov't, often about 'sensitive' topics like the controlled media hit-pieces against ethnic minorities or about the 'cleansings' of the past in Tibet or Xinjiang. Why don't they care? Because I'm not stirring up protests or riots, or trying to create viral media phenomenon. People who fall under the gov't thumb here are typically activists and such who are trying to create public disturbance or spread false information, not people who simply criticise (especially in small groups or private conversations) over Chinese networks. So, I suppose I can summarise with: while I feel for the plight of people who are seriously trying to make positive change in big ways, the gov't doesn't care about people's discussions on a private level, so the feeling of 'oppressed speech' isn't nearly what you'd think it is here.

    5. Re:China comparison... by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

      nobody gives a FUCK what you download

      Try downloading The Gate of Heavenly Peace and see if nobody cares what you download.

    6. Re:China comparison... by Rick+in+China · · Score: 1

      You obviously don't know anything about China, do you.

      Downloading anything Tian'An'Men is not going to get me in trouble. Protesting in public and gathering people to try to get them to join me - is. Get it? Fuck. Monkeys talking about shit they simply don't understand - keep banging the bone against your computer, eventually you'll write Shakespeare.

    7. Re:China comparison... by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

      Well, it's good to see the Chinese government's censors are here to keep us informed about what this week's official lie is. Meanwhile in the real world, anyone discussing forbidding topics online risks arrest for "spreading rumors":

      Teenager becomes first person arrested under China's new anti-gossip law

    8. Re:China comparison... by Rick+in+China · · Score: 1

      The Chinese government's censors? I'm not Chinese. You obviously have gone far beyond your depth of understanding anything about the nation and obviously have never lived here in an effort to understand more about, or circumvention of, or work closely with industries most affected by internet related obstacles or suppression. I have er, and am. So --- I'll take your laughable article which IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH clearly states that viral misinformation/rumours which may cause riots or protests or anything like that, as in, if it gets reposted or spread across the 'net with haste hence causes some sort of political issue, is illegal. That's what I said, no? As long as I'm having my own conversation or consuming my own information with some privacy, not ranting about the government on f'n twitter equivalent (weibo, lets say) hoping my message gets out to a few hundred million people, then I'm OK. Who suffers most under this type of law? People like Alex Jones, he'd be locked up for life.

  57. data caps at home a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On my server. I am doing between 200GB and 2TB per day transfer for average total of 20TB monthly. Guess how much I pay? $10/mo. On my VPS I pay $10 and I get 3TB included.

    Comcast caps at 300GB for an entire month yet charges $39.99 plus for it and it is just as shared and maybe even more dedicated compared to my shared hosting services.. Some people pay 70-80 range, same cap & limits..

  58. Time to play with euphemisms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not a data cap.

    It's a free extortion service, because we care about the quality of service we provide to our customers pockets *cough* customers satisfaction.

    Up next automotive companies will provide the same service quality to all of their consumers who drive beyond 300 miles per month.

    Followed up by airline and naval companies providing the similar service should they require a 2nd or 3rd attempt of landing/docking or traveling extra distance to avoid bad weather conditions.

  59. Let me get this straight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People in America actually accept to buy things from this kind of companies ? Why would you do that ?

    1. Re:Let me get this straight by Mike+Frett · · Score: 1

      Ignorance.

      As long as they can Watch their TV and squint their beady little eyes at their Phones; they don't care what's happening.

    2. Re:Let me get this straight by neminem · · Score: 1

      Ignorance of what? I have a choice between a single crappy dsl provider, and a single crappy cable internet provider. They're both terrible, and at this point, no matter what awful crap Verizon puts me through, I feel stuck with them because I know if I cancel, I'll probably be days to weeks without internet again as Charter screws up installation and turn-on just as badly as Verizon did (necessitating taking what was supposed to be a couple hours, and ended up being an entire day, off work trying to find someone, anyone who could actually fix the completely-their-fault issue that resulted in the installation guy basically throwing his hands up in confusion and leaving. After which day I still didn't have internet for about a week and a half.)

      So what ignorance exactly? I have exactly 0 power to change any of that, without about 20 gajillion dollars and some senators in my pocket.

  60. Unlimited usage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Goes with unlimited pockets.

    It's your own damn fault you ran out of money while reading your email.

  61. Vice, Testicles, the usual reasons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In many parts of america, if you want internet - and you DO need it nowadays for anything from your children having a chance to finish high-school to, you know, your own actual job - you have exactly 1 (in some places 0....) option.

    Some areas are Time Warner-only, some areas are Comcast-only, but either way, you're either bending over and taking it, or you don't get to eat your datas. You just don't. There's no alternatives.

    Even when, say, a town tries to create an alternative, courtesy of having no options at all, those giants swoop in and have it all shut down like some evil lawyerly version of the Avengers. Then they leave, promising to "eventually" look into the "possibility" of jamming themselves up your collective rears - after they've been paid three or four or five more times to create the infrastructure they never created.

    It's corruption in every sense of the word, and it won't end until every last C-level of every such corporation is purged in holy flame (literal or financially) for crimes against sentient life. This is no exaggeration: The fines amount to MINUTES worth of business profit for them, and they certainly won't stop so long as they draw breath!

  62. Comcast is by sabbede · · Score: 1
    bastards.

    I signed up with them, asking directly if there was a cap. They said, "no". Five months later, I got an email announcing the good news that the cap would be raised to 300gigs/month from 250. (I doubled that the first week I had service)

    So I called them. They said the cap had always been there, but they hadn't been enforcing it. I made several suggestions involving the rectal insertion of a chainsaw. Something I have done again several times.

    1. Re:Comcast is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll one up you here:
      A year ago I got my account "permanently suspended" for going over.
      When asking "how much was over" and why we'd never been warned we were going over, we were assured there were no caps. Yes. We'd gone over the cap, and even in the conversation about how we were terrible pirate people to go over the cap because only bad pirate people go over the cap, they still would assure us every OTHER sentence that there were no caps. "Too much", "over the limit", "well beyond the caps", "unreasonable"... I can assure you we kept well below 80gb a month, but we HAD recorded a conversation a few months earlier when they'd triple billed us in one month (1st, 11th, 21st, I was just lucky April has 30 days!) and tried to change the nature of the charges after we caught on. And still there "was no cap".

      Given Comcast tried to stick me with an ETF when I "cancelled" by putting a stop order on their automatic withdrawals (suspended apparently means they get money anyways), I can't really tell you how this ends just yet, as my small claims isn't till November.

  63. Re:Like it or not Comcast is incorrect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Caps are caps. Whether you make it a hard "no more service past this point, period" or instead make popping through it lead you to a financial tar-pit of despair, you have still put a cap on "unlimited". Deceptive and false advertising in the best of times, but combine with the prices they charge this stuff's just plain Evil.

  64. What they're trying to do by sabbede · · Score: 1
    is force residential customers to pay for business service. Complain about the cap, and they'll try to sell you on it.

    And as people "in the know", I think we can all call bullshit on them when they say streaming video uses too much bandwidth. Netflix streams H.264, TV streams are uncompressed MPEG-2. If you watch Netflix, you're using less bandwidth than if you were watching Fox.

  65. I believe big cable will montior net neutrailty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now, they might not be able to inform us of it with their system down nationwide.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/timewarner-down-2014-8

  66. Cap or not by sociocapitalist · · Score: 1

    If you exceed your 'cap', does service stop until you okay that you want to pay more or does it automatically start charging you?

    I would rather have a real cap that stops service than the latter, incurring unknown and probably unlimited additional cost.

    Also, it seems that comcast is a right shit company and if I were in the US I would just avoid buying from them altogether.

    --
    blindly antisocialist = antisocial
  67. Letters of Disconnect by RawGutts · · Score: 1

    So I am guess the letters than Comcast is sending out to customers telling them they are being disconnected because they went over the data cap to many times is not Actually Real and is a figment of peoples minds they are holding in there hands, typed out in black and white with the letter head of Comcast on paper..

  68. US government be like by Chewbacon · · Score: 1

    Comcast: this animal which walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, fucks like a duck is actually not a duck.
    US gov: we see your point.

    --
    Chewbacon
    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
  69. Broadband already costs to much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'll go back to dial up for $10/month.

  70. And you can speed as much as you want... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...So long as you can afford the fines.

  71. Russia comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am in St. Petersburg. My internet is 200 roubles/month (about $6 USD) for 50mb/s download. It is hard to understand how American ISP's can lie about speed, that is not possible here. Mobile phone service with a good plan - generous minutes/texts, including international - is less than $10 USD a month. Everything else I think is comparable to US in prices. Electricity is about $0.10/kwh. Rent for an average two room apartment in a city the size of Chicago is maybe $700-$800, fully furnished. Price of groceries is maybe 10% higher for normal things (milk, meat, bread, etc.).

    I think America is not so free in the market as they like to tell everyone so often.

  72. On my Service page by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I go into my services page on Comcast's website, I can look at my bandwidth usage. There is a page that shows me the total data used for the billing cycle. Under this chart, it says in big bold type. Data Caps are not enforced. It shows a cap of 250Gb's, but I easily go over this, and because it's not enforced I see nothing in my bill.

    Just because a cap isn't enforced doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There's also a speed limit in my town, and it sometimes isn't enforced(no cops around), this doesn't mean there isn't a speed limit.

  73. Not a data cap? by u-235-sentinel · · Score: 1

    " cough cough BullS**T "

    http://www.comcastissue.blogsp...

    Sure feels like one to me and my family when they terminated our internet in 2007. And yes we used it for all sorts of services including Hulu and other streaming services. Not a data cap? Yeah right. Tell that to the other 6 people in my neighborhood who were ALSO disconnected within a couple months of us!

    7 years Concast free. And loving it!

    (Currently using CenturyLink with 40 Meg + package which includes 20 meg up)

    --
    Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
  74. By that same logic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    McDonald's is an all-you-can-eat dining establishment since you can buy as much as you care too.

  75. Dim Sum Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All you can eat, as long as you are willing to pay per plate.

  76. I will find an alternate service provider. by jerryjnormandin · · Score: 1

    When comcast forced me to use a cable box (I was watching hd programming fine without it) I dropped my extended basic package with blast + and reduced to blast + and the old legacy package. I get most of my HD network programming over the air now. I really only have comcast now for internet access. when I get capped I will look for another provider.

  77. Bullshit! by s.petry · · Score: 1

    Nothing you stated is rational or logical. If a member of congress can make a vote for a contract, then go purchase stock on the company right after the vote (or sell if the vote was "no"), that is an abuse of power. Period, end of statement, and there is no possible way you can justify that abuse of power. This is a regular habit for certain members of congress who increase personal wealth at incredible rates while in office.

    That you don't want the President to go after them completely misses the concept of having judicial oversight for people holding offices. That complacency is why we have rampant abuse today by nearly every government office, including the GAO which is supposed to stop fraud and abuses.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  78. All you can consume by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    By Comcasts logic, all restaurants are 'all you can eat', because they will let you buy another serving...

  79. Unreasonable network management by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Monthly data usage has little to do with actual cost to Comcast.
        Busy hour data usage maybe.
        A monopoly should have to charge according to their cost, not what the market will bear.

    What should happen is there during busy hour every body gets their fair share of each congestion point.
        The units of fair share are bits/second compared to bandwidth sold, not bits.
        The percentage should be something recognizable as fair given that they sold 100Meg service.

    As for the argument that it is not a cap.
        Just try not paying their extra charge and see if your data can get through this non-cap cap.

  80. LOOK! by hurfy · · Score: 2

    All you can eat pizza.... ...only $1.00 per slice.

    1. Re:LOOK! by Gliscameria · · Score: 1

      I'm totally paying all of my bills, they are just deferred indefinitely. Why can't Comcast get this?

      --
      X
  81. Data caps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing but lawyer coached double-talk. 'we refuse to use the term data cap so it isn't'. What a load.

  82. This call may be recorded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then the other person would not have admitted to bribery, obviously.

  83. They want websites to pay for exempt status by triso · · Score: 1

    Sounds good to me.

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  89. 1980s Legislation Games by weweedmaniii · · Score: 1

    Perhaps someone older than me remembers this, for all who believe their guy is "innocent" In the 1977s a bill was crafted in such a way that if a lawmaker voted against it, the Congress still got their far above average "cost of living" raise for "serving" in Congress, meanwhile told the masses back home "I voted against that huge raise..." of course the bill was "defeated" soundly and Congress got their raise. http://library.cqpress.com/cqa... As an aside, look at your own guy/gal, there's a good chance they were serving then, that was about 37 years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

    --
    "If stupid things work...then they are not stupid."