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

Posted by Unknown on from the doubleplus-ungood-pirate dept.

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."

17 of 341 comments (clear)

  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 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.

    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.

    7. 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!”
    8. 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...

  2. 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.

  3. 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 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.

  4. 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?

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

    cap/burka/asshat...whatever.

  6. 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"

  7. 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
  8. 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