Hold on a sec.... "computer scientists" are now in the process of changing binary from base 2 to base 10. No longer will it be 1's and 0's. We'll have a lot of options available in 10^9 hours;-)
Looks like Wal-Mart is back with more PC's for the people. That's great. It will bring more visibility to Ubuntu, and Linux in general. And that's the point of the whole thing: to let Linux have more visibility so that manufacturers, and people in general, won't say, "Hey, we don't have to make our video player compatible with Linux because nobody uses Linux."
I was just thinking this might make a great mythtv frontend system for streaming video content over my home network. I'm thinking perhaps replace it with Ubuntu 7.04 as I understand it comes with a Ubuntu knock off...
Been trying to get on the walmart web site the article linked. It's down for maintenance during the day again? Grrrr... I'll keep checking back. I'm curious if this is the silver bullet for my environment I've been looking for.
The alternative was building a custom box for about $400 to run the front end mythtv piece. Looking forward to this:D
Oh and I think it's great to see Linux getting more and more press as a desktop solution. Happy Linux Desktop user here since 1999! Now if we could only get the CounterStrike Source client to work 100% I'd be really happy:D
While I know it's all the rage to imagine everything from Office to Photoshop as a web app, I simply don't want to rely on having an internet connection for anything that doesn't inherently require it (browsing the web, using ftp, ssh or email, etc). Widespread access to the internet is not universal access to the internet, and connection quality varies so greatly, that I don't want to have my productivity beholden to the whims of the local network (if there even is one) that I happen to be using, and deal with the fact the processing power of my machine has been rendered irrelevant thanks to someone downloading 500 simultaneous HD hentai torrents.
Not to mentioned, what if the company providing your Internet service decides you are a bad customer because you are using your internet too much? They terminate your access and where are you with your presentation then?
Yeah I know it sounds stupid but that's a strong possibility. I've spoken with many people not just in Utah but in many other states who have experienced this. It's sux and needs to be addressed.
Wrong. The key word in free market is "free". This forced "neutrality" is a statist imposition on the fundamental right of all corporations to be free to do business as they see fit. You and your smelly hippie communist buddies have absolutely NO right to control what Comcast can and cannot do with their products and services.
Correct. And in a free market Comcast would be building a business built on customer satisfaction or going bust for the lack of it.
after endless problems downloading legal videos via Transmission (Mac torrent client), and after my vonage calls stopped working all together, i gave up fighting. I called qwest and found out that my download speed would max out at 1.5 because of my distance from the CO, and i didn't care.
I got qwest up and running in 10 minutes, and i called Comcast when i got to work. I told him i was done dealing with their incompetance on cable TV (shows would start in HD, then go to SD for commercials, then never come back or come back at random times), and now, they were screwing with my legitimate services. For $60 a month, i wasn't going to be jobbed any more because they wanted to be my VOIP provider. I don't want them, i want Vonage, and for as slow as you can run vonage, they should have had no qualms.
Yes, my internet service is way slower.. and i don't care... because at least i'm not giving any more money to Comcast.
Glad to hear of it. More and more people are demanding service. Seems to be something Comcast is unable or unwilling to provide.
Personally I'm glad the company is arrogant enough to do this. They are not only providing their own coffin but the nails for it too:D
I have been unable to use Google maps for months now on Comcast. I have called them, but, you can guess how that went. Yahoo maps and Mapquest work fine, but on Google I get about half the tiles filled in before it stops. And I mean it stops. It ends up looking like a checkerboard. Occassionally it will finish a couple of minutes later, but typically it never does.
Getting Comcast to fix it seems unlikely.
It comes from the attitude that they don't care about the customer, regardless of what the PR department might say. Oh, and they have been VERY busy this year earning their paycheck:-)
When congress allows the telecoms to charge more, to build on public easements, or to screw their competitors and offer more services than they should fairly be allowed to, it's the public paying the tab. We've let them have more than enough leeway with what is rightfully the public's infrastructure.
If you come across any more like this let me know. I'm spending a great deal of my free time researching this and have been very upset with what I've learned. You can post it freely on my blog. I appreciate it.
I noticed Senator John Kerry has been speaking about something very close to this lately. I'm hoping we'll see some movement to fix this and accountability.
Each month they would assure me that they had fixed the billing problems and my next bill would be correct. Rinse and repeat for six months. To top it off, when I moved and switched to DSL (no problems with verizon billing in over a year) they send my account to a collection agency when they owed me money. I also seemed to have very frequent network outages too. Don't know if that was a first generation attempt to reduce peoples bandwidth usage.
I hear stories like this frequently. It's sad that people have to put up with this garbage. And even worse, I hear talk about the free market will decide over and over again as if it's something that's actually working. But when you have a monopoly (or duopoly if you are lucky) and the government allows it month after month to continue, what on earth are they expecting the "free market" to do about it? It's no like you can choose another provider over Comcast that's better...
Spoke with Rep Craig Frank in the Utah State Capital. Same thing going on there. They are shielding Comcast from the Free Market. If given options, people generally would not stick with them. It's Concastic!!!
It's much like the cheap hamburger patties that are made with 100% real beef - as opposed to the ones that are 100% real beef. One statement claims that the beef portion in the patties are 100% real, while the other states that the patties are 100% real beef.
Semantics is/are a wonderful thing.
I noticed that when Concast terminated my internet account in January. Their response to the media who I was speaking to was "We are working with the customer... blah blah blah>>>". Uhh... Working with the customer meaning they wanted to charge me $10,000 to install a new line and $2,000 a month for Internet access. What on earth are they talking about?
I learned what was really happening here is they wanted to make it seem they were being reasonable and really care. Uggg... What a company.
A distro like Ubuntu is more like a VW Golf TDI that can transform into a panel van or 18 wheeler when necessary. It's obviously superior in every way, but people complain about stupid stuff like gas stations that don't sell diesel and how hard it is to get through a 10' tunnel when you're in 18-wheeler mode.
Sounds to me like they haven't watched the movie "Transformers". If Optimus Prime can do it...
Today you use KUbuntu. You feel like a black sheep. Tomorrow you suddenly find that some other your friend uses . Then one more friend. Then one more. Then you just stop counting.
Recently I attended SANS 2007 in Las Vegas and was VERY surprised to see how many people were running Ubunbu Linux on their laptops. Nearly half the students had switched in the last couple years from Windows. And we have Vista to thank for that. All the stories then the reality pushed people to say they've had enough.
It was a really cool experience (Oh and the class was awesome!)
Guess you're right about being too stupid. Using your argument, you could try to make thumbtacks illegal because people might use them to hang up pictures of copyrighted images that the user hasn't paid for. BT is a tool, not a philosophy.
You missed my sarcasm. I was poking at the Parent's comment in my response:-)
Comcast is censoring data they do not own. Comcast is depriving consumers of services paid for. Copyright has nothing to do with it. All files, both copyrighted and non-copyrighted must be COPIED to be seen and heard by those accessing the internet. There's no difference if you click on a web page or if you bitttorent files.
I think that's why he/she/it posted as AC rather than risk sounding like an idiot.
The discussion was about limiting P2P services which every week are use more and more for legitimate businesses. But then again, he/she/it probably doesn't play computer games like WOW. But then again, perhaps I'm too stupid to see how the bittorrent protocol is being used legally.
Just noticed I can download Hollywood movies, songs, tv shows, games and other items from bittorrent themselves.
Name one. No one *has* to use anything. The definition of "have to" you are using is so narrow it is meaningless. You don't *have* to breathe oxygen. Unless you want to live.
In any case, the correct response to poor behavior by a cable or DSL provider is simply to complain to the city or town. Tell them that the providers are abusing their monopoly, and get them to mandate network neutrality in the next contract. If the provider won't play along, replace them. If no replacement is willing to play, create a public internet utility.
Unfortunately this didn't work with my city council. They have so far ignored the problem so now with the election just weeks away, I'm working with the opposition to get them replaced. I'm calling their opponents and asking them for feedback on what they think should be done. I'm also urging people to contact them. One guy said "you're the third guy today to ask me that question". Asking about Utopia to be built in our city. The word is getting out because the Internet IS important to people. Other countries think so... and they aren't rolling out copper cables. They are rolling fiber!
Anyway, I'll be in the subcommittee meeting this Thursday talking about Utopia's future. There will be a public comment period where the audience can state anything related to the topic.
I've never been political.. voted yes but nothing like this before. Hopefully other's in other states will demand services and not this Comcast BS we're seeing.
In short, if I were on Comcast's Internet service, I would be paying them to deliver network packets, that's all. At best, Comcast has engaged in an egregious breach of contract by deliberately interfering with my ability to get packets from A to B. At worst, they are guilty of deliberately and secretly impersonating someone they're not, and if I'm not mistaken, that's a crime. They might be lucky if they can get out of this with just a class action lawsuit.
I wonder if this is why they have terminated my Internet account. And other's I've spoken to in my area and out of state. Some have run P2P and other's haven't. But it sounds like more and more may have been running P2P when they were terminated for "using the Internet too much".
And no, there was no limit. In fact the CSR said they had no service limits in the residential or business plan (I upgraded to business earlier this year). In fact the advertisement even said "Unlimited use for a flat monthly fee". What on earth does unlimited use really mean to these guys?
Sure makes you wonder if this is the motivation for terminating people's access.
YAY, I have a tiny chance of receiving $7.32 off my comcast bill in 6 years time!
I was just thinking how much I don't miss Comcast. Even though DSL isn't 6 or 60 Megs up/down like I would expect from a Utopia connection, at least I don't have to deal with Comcast's Frankenstein behaviour.
Personally I hope as a nation we consider the Internet "Important" to our economic future. If so then why are we not building a National Infrastructure as proposed by Clinton/Gore int he 90's? I'm talking about NII. From what I'm reading, we already paid for it in taxes over the last decade plus.
And don't get me started over Comcast terminating it's customers for "Using the Internet too much". That's just plain stupid. No limits but don't over use the service you are paying for. And how much is acceptable and what is not?
Yeah, I've read their AUP/TOS and you know what. Even the two lawyers I've spoken to couldn't make heads/tails of it. It's that screwed up.
Anyway, we need to contact our local city council, Mayors, State and Federal politicians about this problem. Either the internet is important or it isn't.
I'm taking a vacation day this Thursday to attend a subcommittee meeting discussing building the Utopia Infrastructure here in Utah. I sure hope comcast sends someone there. I'd love to hear and respond to his bull.
You don't like it leave. Its that simple. Maybe if Comcast customers started leaving in drones, Comcast would re-think their insane policy. Anything else is akin to whining like a child because you can't have the toy you wanted. If your phone company DID decide to pretend they were you and pick up and hang up your call what would you do. 1) Sue 2) Find new phone company. For those in a place where you're trapped in with solely one provider, I feel your pain. Maybe people need to start calling their local political representatives. Surely if anyone can take two to three minutes responding to this article or even my post, surely you can shoot off an email to a congressman or political dipshit to complain. Anything else, is whining.
In most of Corporate America, you can't leave. It's a monopoly or at best a duopoly. And the options are worse speeds than what Comcast provides.
Some parts of America you can select from more than a dozen and that's good. Competition has a way of straightening screwed up companies (or they go out of business). In my area we're fortunate to have Qwest DSL (yeah I know but it's the ONLY real option where I live).
I'm working to push for Utopia fiber to the home here in Utah. If the Internet is important then perhaps we should have an infrastructure in place (like public roads) that allow competition and the free market to take hold.
Oh, and suing the company is something people do when they can afford it. I've already exhausted options with my City Council and have moved to working at the State and Federal level. Some people there have been "shocked" to learn of what the company does. Comcast has a few problems and may be called on to the mat soon.
Does Comcast advertise very high transfer speeds? Because if they advertise that, knowing that they intentionally force lower speeds for some kinds of traffic, that sounds like fraud.
Yes and no. They do advertise this but their AUP/TOS states they can manage their network any way they feel like. So if they determine YOU are a problem, you can even be terminated up to 12 months at which you can re-sign on again.
Personally I'm going the other route. I'm fighting for competition to come in and knock some sense into these guys.
With all the crap we customers are putting up with (constant rate increases, lousy service, high prices, lack of privacy, ridiculous usage filtering), the only way Comcrap is going to lose customers is if there is some sort of competition.
Currently, they have, essentially, a monopoly in most areas. In my neighborhood, DSL only became available recently and really only through SBC (hiding behind the AT&T name). The "service" is an 1/8th of the speed for barely any less monthly rate.
Believe me, if there was any way to get decent internet without paying Comcrap for it, I'd be doing it. And I'm sure a LOT of other folks would, too.
Believe me, I feel your pain.
I'm one of those fortunate to finally be free of Comcast. DSL so far has been excellent. I haven't noticed much change in my service but you're right. We need competition. This is why in my area I'm pushing for Utopia fiber to the home. I've also been speaking with Politicians. Both local and Federal explaining my story with what happened with Comcast.
I believe it's important the Government create an infrastructure that anyone (yes, even the evil Comcast) can join and provide services through. It's no different than when the Government was running power lines when electricity became available. I'm learning that power companies wouldn't run power to everyone so the Government did it. I'm trying to learn more but If true sets a precedent here.
The only way this will work is if we stop expecting private industry to do it for us. Otherwise we'd still be waiting to get rid of our out houses:-)
Wait, forget the fact that FISA does allow the government to wiretap individuals legally following certain guidelines.
Isn't the bigger problem the fact that this happens apparently so often that Comcast has a pricing structure for it? I mean, if it happened irregularly, Comcast would probably eat the cost as part of being a good citizen.
The words "Comcast" and "Good citizen" just doesn't sound right in the same sentence for some reason.
If you would like to tap my internet and phones, I can cut out the middle man and give you what you need for a one-time setup cost of $600, and the low low price of $450 per month.
(Now, if the monitoring program is secret, what can the IRS do if I don't report that income?)
That's nothing... I'll do that for them for only $275 a month (minimum of one month required) and waive the setup fee;-)
if enough people complain or walk then they will change their practices.
By the way - well spotted.
No actually they won't. Comcast has for years been terminating people for using the Internet too much. There is nothing to say this will go away either.
Since the company is a monopoly with government support (more or less), unless a free market is allowed, the company will continue to abuse people.
Slashdot Mirror
Hold on a sec.... "computer scientists" are now in the process of changing binary from base 2 to base 10. No longer will it be 1's and 0's. We'll have a lot of options available in 10^9 hours
Looks like Wal-Mart is back with more PC's for the people. That's great. It will bring more visibility to Ubuntu, and Linux in general. And that's the point of the whole thing: to let Linux have more visibility so that manufacturers, and people in general, won't say, "Hey, we don't have to make our video player compatible with Linux because nobody uses Linux."
:D
:D
I was just thinking this might make a great mythtv frontend system for streaming video content over my home network. I'm thinking perhaps replace it with Ubuntu 7.04 as I understand it comes with a Ubuntu knock off...
Been trying to get on the walmart web site the article linked. It's down for maintenance during the day again? Grrrr... I'll keep checking back. I'm curious if this is the silver bullet for my environment I've been looking for.
The alternative was building a custom box for about $400 to run the front end mythtv piece. Looking forward to this
Oh and I think it's great to see Linux getting more and more press as a desktop solution. Happy Linux Desktop user here since 1999! Now if we could only get the CounterStrike Source client to work 100% I'd be really happy
While I know it's all the rage to imagine everything from Office to Photoshop as a web app, I simply don't want to rely on having an internet connection for anything that doesn't inherently require it (browsing the web, using ftp, ssh or email, etc). Widespread access to the internet is not universal access to the internet, and connection quality varies so greatly, that I don't want to have my productivity beholden to the whims of the local network (if there even is one) that I happen to be using, and deal with the fact the processing power of my machine has been rendered irrelevant thanks to someone downloading 500 simultaneous HD hentai torrents.
Not to mentioned, what if the company providing your Internet service decides you are a bad customer because you are using your internet too much? They terminate your access and where are you with your presentation then?
Yeah I know it sounds stupid but that's a strong possibility. I've spoken with many people not just in Utah but in many other states who have experienced this. It's sux and needs to be addressed.
Wrong. The key word in free market is "free". This forced "neutrality" is a statist imposition on the fundamental right of all corporations to be free to do business as they see fit. You and your smelly hippie communist buddies have absolutely NO right to control what Comcast can and cannot do with their products and services.
Correct. And in a free market Comcast would be building a business built on customer satisfaction or going bust for the lack of it.
Nice having a monopoly ain't it.
after endless problems downloading legal videos via Transmission (Mac torrent client), and after my vonage calls stopped working all together, i gave up fighting. I called qwest and found out that my download speed would max out at 1.5 because of my distance from the CO, and i didn't care.
:D
I got qwest up and running in 10 minutes, and i called Comcast when i got to work. I told him i was done dealing with their incompetance on cable TV (shows would start in HD, then go to SD for commercials, then never come back or come back at random times), and now, they were screwing with my legitimate services. For $60 a month, i wasn't going to be jobbed any more because they wanted to be my VOIP provider. I don't want them, i want Vonage, and for as slow as you can run vonage, they should have had no qualms.
Yes, my internet service is way slower.. and i don't care... because at least i'm not giving any more money to Comcast.
Glad to hear of it. More and more people are demanding service. Seems to be something Comcast is unable or unwilling to provide.
Personally I'm glad the company is arrogant enough to do this. They are not only providing their own coffin but the nails for it too
I have been unable to use Google maps for months now on Comcast. I have called them, but, you can guess how that went. Yahoo maps and Mapquest work fine, but on Google I get about half the tiles filled in before it stops. And I mean it stops. It ends up looking like a checkerboard. Occassionally it will finish a couple of minutes later, but typically it never does.
:-)
Getting Comcast to fix it seems unlikely.
It comes from the attitude that they don't care about the customer, regardless of what the PR department might say. Oh, and they have been VERY busy this year earning their paycheck
When congress allows the telecoms to charge more, to build on public easements, or to screw their competitors and offer more services than they should fairly be allowed to, it's the public paying the tab. We've let them have more than enough leeway with what is rightfully the public's infrastructure.
If you come across any more like this let me know. I'm spending a great deal of my free time researching this and have been very upset with what I've learned. You can post it freely on my blog. I appreciate it.
I noticed Senator John Kerry has been speaking about something very close to this lately. I'm hoping we'll see some movement to fix this and accountability.
Each month they would assure me that they had fixed the billing problems and my next bill would be correct. Rinse and repeat for six months. To top it off, when I moved and switched to DSL (no problems with verizon billing in over a year) they send my account to a collection agency when they owed me money. I also seemed to have very frequent network outages too. Don't know if that was a first generation attempt to reduce peoples bandwidth usage.
I hear stories like this frequently. It's sad that people have to put up with this garbage. And even worse, I hear talk about the free market will decide over and over again as if it's something that's actually working. But when you have a monopoly (or duopoly if you are lucky) and the government allows it month after month to continue, what on earth are they expecting the "free market" to do about it? It's no like you can choose another provider over Comcast that's better...
Spoke with Rep Craig Frank in the Utah State Capital. Same thing going on there. They are shielding Comcast from the Free Market. If given options, people generally would not stick with them. It's Concastic!!!
It's much like the cheap hamburger patties that are made with 100% real beef - as opposed to the ones that are 100% real beef. One statement claims that the beef portion in the patties are 100% real, while the other states that the patties are 100% real beef.
Semantics is/are a wonderful thing.
I noticed that when Concast terminated my internet account in January. Their response to the media who I was speaking to was "We are working with the customer... blah blah blah>>>". Uhh... Working with the customer meaning they wanted to charge me $10,000 to install a new line and $2,000 a month for Internet access. What on earth are they talking about?
I learned what was really happening here is they wanted to make it seem they were being reasonable and really care. Uggg... What a company.
A distro like Ubuntu is more like a VW Golf TDI that can transform into a panel van or 18 wheeler when necessary. It's obviously superior in every way, but people complain about stupid stuff like gas stations that don't sell diesel and how hard it is to get through a 10' tunnel when you're in 18-wheeler mode.
...
Sounds to me like they haven't watched the movie "Transformers". If Optimus Prime can do it
Today you use KUbuntu. You feel like a black sheep. Tomorrow you suddenly find that some other your friend uses . Then one more friend. Then one more. Then you just stop counting.
Recently I attended SANS 2007 in Las Vegas and was VERY surprised to see how many people were running Ubunbu Linux on their laptops. Nearly half the students had switched in the last couple years from Windows. And we have Vista to thank for that. All the stories then the reality pushed people to say they've had enough.
It was a really cool experience (Oh and the class was awesome!)
You should try it out by grabbing the DVD Install/LiveCD off of bittorrent here:
:D
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/dvd/current/
Disclaimer: My download will get faster if you do this.
Unless you're with Comcast. Then your screwed
But Ubuntu wont play DVDs out of the box either. The task was to see how quickly and easily Ubuntu and XP could each be made DVD capable.
Once I downloaded the dcss deb file from videolan.org, it took me about 60 seconds to make Ubuntu DVD capable.
Guess you're right about being too stupid. Using your argument, you could try to make thumbtacks illegal because people might use them to hang up pictures of copyrighted images that the user hasn't paid for. BT is a tool, not a philosophy.
:-)
You missed my sarcasm. I was poking at the Parent's comment in my response
Comcast is censoring data they do not own. Comcast is depriving consumers of services paid for. Copyright has nothing to do with it. All files, both copyrighted and non-copyrighted must be COPIED to be seen and heard by those accessing the internet. There's no difference if you click on a web page or if you bitttorent files.
;D
I think that's why he/she/it posted as AC rather than risk sounding like an idiot.
The discussion was about limiting P2P services which every week are use more and more for legitimate businesses. But then again, he/she/it probably doesn't play computer games like WOW. But then again, perhaps I'm too stupid to see how the bittorrent protocol is being used legally.
Just noticed I can download Hollywood movies, songs, tv shows, games and other items from bittorrent themselves.
Sweet!
So much for the AC's copyright argument eh
Name one. No one *has* to use anything.
;-)
The definition of "have to" you are using is so narrow it is meaningless. You don't *have* to breathe oxygen. Unless you want to live.
It's over rated anyway
In any case, the correct response to poor behavior by a cable or DSL provider is simply to complain to the city or town. Tell them that the providers are abusing their monopoly, and get them to mandate network neutrality in the next contract. If the provider won't play along, replace them. If no replacement is willing to play, create a public internet utility.
Unfortunately this didn't work with my city council. They have so far ignored the problem so now with the election just weeks away, I'm working with the opposition to get them replaced. I'm calling their opponents and asking them for feedback on what they think should be done. I'm also urging people to contact them. One guy said "you're the third guy today to ask me that question". Asking about Utopia to be built in our city. The word is getting out because the Internet IS important to people. Other countries think so... and they aren't rolling out copper cables. They are rolling fiber!
Anyway, I'll be in the subcommittee meeting this Thursday talking about Utopia's future. There will be a public comment period where the audience can state anything related to the topic.
I've never been political.. voted yes but nothing like this before. Hopefully other's in other states will demand services and not this Comcast BS we're seeing.
In short, if I were on Comcast's Internet service, I would be paying them to deliver network packets, that's all. At best, Comcast has engaged in an egregious breach of contract by deliberately interfering with my ability to get packets from A to B. At worst, they are guilty of deliberately and secretly impersonating someone they're not, and if I'm not mistaken, that's a crime. They might be lucky if they can get out of this with just a class action lawsuit.
I wonder if this is why they have terminated my Internet account. And other's I've spoken to in my area and out of state. Some have run P2P and other's haven't. But it sounds like more and more may have been running P2P when they were terminated for "using the Internet too much".
And no, there was no limit. In fact the CSR said they had no service limits in the residential or business plan (I upgraded to business earlier this year). In fact the advertisement even said "Unlimited use for a flat monthly fee". What on earth does unlimited use really mean to these guys?
Sure makes you wonder if this is the motivation for terminating people's access.
YAY, I have a tiny chance of receiving $7.32 off my comcast bill in 6 years time!
I was just thinking how much I don't miss Comcast. Even though DSL isn't 6 or 60 Megs up/down like I would expect from a Utopia connection, at least I don't have to deal with Comcast's Frankenstein behaviour.
Personally I hope as a nation we consider the Internet "Important" to our economic future. If so then why are we not building a National Infrastructure as proposed by Clinton/Gore int he 90's? I'm talking about NII. From what I'm reading, we already paid for it in taxes over the last decade plus.
And don't get me started over Comcast terminating it's customers for "Using the Internet too much". That's just plain stupid. No limits but don't over use the service you are paying for. And how much is acceptable and what is not?
Yeah, I've read their AUP/TOS and you know what. Even the two lawyers I've spoken to couldn't make heads/tails of it. It's that screwed up.
Anyway, we need to contact our local city council, Mayors, State and Federal politicians about this problem. Either the internet is important or it isn't.
I'm taking a vacation day this Thursday to attend a subcommittee meeting discussing building the Utopia Infrastructure here in Utah. I sure hope comcast sends someone there. I'd love to hear and respond to his bull.
You don't like it leave. Its that simple. Maybe if Comcast customers started leaving in drones, Comcast would re-think their insane policy. Anything else is akin to whining like a child because you can't have the toy you wanted. If your phone company DID decide to pretend they were you and pick up and hang up your call what would you do. 1) Sue 2) Find new phone company. For those in a place where you're trapped in with solely one provider, I feel your pain. Maybe people need to start calling their local political representatives. Surely if anyone can take two to three minutes responding to this article or even my post, surely you can shoot off an email to a congressman or political dipshit to complain. Anything else, is whining.
In most of Corporate America, you can't leave. It's a monopoly or at best a duopoly. And the options are worse speeds than what Comcast provides.
Some parts of America you can select from more than a dozen and that's good. Competition has a way of straightening screwed up companies (or they go out of business). In my area we're fortunate to have Qwest DSL (yeah I know but it's the ONLY real option where I live).
I'm working to push for Utopia fiber to the home here in Utah. If the Internet is important then perhaps we should have an infrastructure in place (like public roads) that allow competition and the free market to take hold.
Oh, and suing the company is something people do when they can afford it. I've already exhausted options with my City Council and have moved to working at the State and Federal level. Some people there have been "shocked" to learn of what the company does. Comcast has a few problems and may be called on to the mat soon.
Does Comcast advertise very high transfer speeds? Because if they advertise that, knowing that they intentionally force lower speeds for some kinds of traffic, that sounds like fraud.
Yes and no. They do advertise this but their AUP/TOS states they can manage their network any way they feel like. So if they determine YOU are a problem, you can even be terminated up to 12 months at which you can re-sign on again.
Personally I'm going the other route. I'm fighting for competition to come in and knock some sense into these guys.
With all the crap we customers are putting up with (constant rate increases, lousy service, high prices, lack of privacy, ridiculous usage filtering), the only way Comcrap is going to lose customers is if there is some sort of competition.
:-)
Currently, they have, essentially, a monopoly in most areas. In my neighborhood, DSL only became available recently and really only through SBC (hiding behind the AT&T name). The "service" is an 1/8th of the speed for barely any less monthly rate.
Believe me, if there was any way to get decent internet without paying Comcrap for it, I'd be doing it. And I'm sure a LOT of other folks would, too.
Believe me, I feel your pain.
I'm one of those fortunate to finally be free of Comcast. DSL so far has been excellent. I haven't noticed much change in my service but you're right. We need competition. This is why in my area I'm pushing for Utopia fiber to the home. I've also been speaking with Politicians. Both local and Federal explaining my story with what happened with Comcast.
I believe it's important the Government create an infrastructure that anyone (yes, even the evil Comcast) can join and provide services through. It's no different than when the Government was running power lines when electricity became available. I'm learning that power companies wouldn't run power to everyone so the Government did it. I'm trying to learn more but If true sets a precedent here.
The only way this will work is if we stop expecting private industry to do it for us. Otherwise we'd still be waiting to get rid of our out houses
Wait, forget the fact that FISA does allow the government to wiretap individuals legally following certain guidelines.
Isn't the bigger problem the fact that this happens apparently so often that Comcast has a pricing structure for it? I mean, if it happened irregularly, Comcast would probably eat the cost as part of being a good citizen.
The words "Comcast" and "Good citizen" just doesn't sound right in the same sentence for some reason.
If you would like to tap my internet and phones, I can cut out the middle man and give you what you need for a one-time setup cost of $600, and the low low price of $450 per month.
;-)
(Now, if the monitoring program is secret, what can the IRS do if I don't report that income?)
That's nothing... I'll do that for them for only $275 a month (minimum of one month required) and waive the setup fee
..are people surprised?
if enough people complain or walk then they will change their practices.
By the way - well spotted.
No actually they won't. Comcast has for years been terminating people for using the Internet too much. There is nothing to say this will go away either.
Since the company is a monopoly with government support (more or less), unless a free market is allowed, the company will continue to abuse people.