Comcast Tests Net Neutrality By Letting Its Own Streaming Service Bypass Usage Caps
from the special-treatment dept
By now, Comcast's strategy for fighting internet video competition is very clear. For one, the company is slowly but surely expanding usage caps into dozens of new markets. In these ever-expanding areas, Comcast imposes a 300 GB usage cap, then charges users $10 for every 50 GB of extra data they consume. Comcast's also now testing a new wrinkle wherein users have the option of paying another $30 to $35 if they want unlimited data. In short, the option to have the same unlimited connection they had yesterday will cost these users significantly more.But recently, Comcast's other spoke in this strategy started to reveal itself. The company is slowly but surely expanding a creatively named streaming video service named Stream. Stream provides Comcast broadband-only users a $15 service that includes live TV, video on demand, and HBO, and it's Comcast's way of trying to keep would-be cord cutters in house. Here's the kicker though: Comcast's new streaming service doesn't count against Comcast user usage caps:
"We asked Comcast today if Stream TV usage will count against the 300GB data plans imposed in certain parts of Comcast's territory. "No, Stream is an IP cable service delivered over our managed network to the home," a Comcast spokesperson replied.In short, Comcast's trying to argue that this isn't a net neutrality violation because the service spends significantly more time traveling over Comcast's managed IP infrastructure instead of the public Internet. It's the same excuse Comcast gave back in 2012, when it was criticized for exempting its streaming service via the Xbox 360 from usage caps. The move resulted in some pointed criticism by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who declared that Comcast was "no longer following net neutrality principles" and the company "should apply caps equally, or not at all." The FCC, however, did nothing.
Comcast also pointed Ars to an (sic) FAQ that says, "Stream TV is a cable streaming service delivered over Comcast's cable system, not over the Internet. Therefore, Stream TV data usage will not be counted towards your Xfinity Internet monthly data usage."
Of course since then, Comcast has deployed its usage caps to significantly more households. Its caps now cover an estimated 12% of its userbase, and the company shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon, with dozens more markets slated for caps on December 1. There were some vague rumors the FCC was watching Comcast's cap expansion plans carefully, but so far the FCC has done nothing.
Unlike 2012, we also now have some actual net neutrality rules in place. The problem, as we've noted a few times, is they don't specifically ban zero rating, but insist the FCC will look at examples of bad behavior on a "case by case" basis. That opens the door -- as we're seeing with T-Mobile -- for carriers to violate net neutrality, if they're just clever enough about it.
It's unclear when exactly the FCC intends to step in to actually enforce the rules it fought (and is still fighting in court) so hard for. Consumer groups like Public Knowledge say they already have a complaint pending with the FCC, and are waiting for the FCC to stop napping:
.@publicknowledge has a pending complaint about Cmcst exempting self from #datacap. https://t.co/TjSKtQxrZ5 Maybe now @FCC will act?
— haroldfeld (@haroldfeld) November 19, 2015
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Filed Under: data caps, fcc, net neutrality, streaming, zero rating
Companies: comcast
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A streaming service named "Stream"!
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Old news
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Re: A streaming service named "Stream"!
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nickel and dime
It might not be too bad if users were notified that they'd reached the limit and had to personally authorize additional blocks of bandwidth. Unfortunately, many companies employ usage caps as a sort of "gotcha" when they clobber customers with a huge bill they never saw coming. Hopefully people who reach $30 or $35 in excess-bandwidth charges will automatically be placed in the "unlimited" service category for that month and won't be charged any more. That's assuming that the company is halfway ethical, but many aren't and will force customers to carefully traverse a minefield of 'service' charges (and various other hoops to jump through) if they want to keep costs from exploding on them.
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Lies, lies, & more lies
This is an outright lie. The immediately preceding answer in the FAQ states that only some of the channels are unavailable when you're away from home (i.e. "on the internet") and they are actively working to make more & more channels available. This anti-competitive tactic couldn't be more blatant.
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Hello FCC
Of course you are... not!!!!
I sit back and wait to see if they are actually going to do a damn thing.
Meanwhile the entire content generating sector no longer worries about bandwidth limits. Back when we had 56k site kept fluff to a minimum because no one wants a slow site. Now, people are going to be billed for sites they visit that load them down with video based adds that eat up even more of that finite bandwidth while the customer is double stuffed for it all.
The FCC needs to force Comcast (or any other ISP for that matter) to prominently display usage limits of ANY and EVERY kind.
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Re:
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Re: Lies, lies, & more lies
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Why this is unfair
Because what Comcast is doing is anti competitive. Designed to hurt all its competitors.
If Comcast is willing to give that bandwidth for free, then just give it to me with no conditions attached that I must watch Comcast's streaming.
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Re: Re: Lies, lies, & more lies
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Re:
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Re: Hello FCC
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Re: Re:
"It will never drive Netflix out of business. They are too powerful now."
Companies like Netflix should easily be able to take Comcast to international trade court. This would be easy to prove in that kind of magical damage figure arena. I'm sure it will be settled out of court only to be followed by a flood of copycats. Eventually they will be forced to abandon the whole capping idea otherwise small unlimited service providers will become cost effective enough to erode more than half of Comcast's current market share.
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Re: Re: A streaming service named "Stream"!
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Re: Re: Re: Lies, lies, & more lies
Actually, the trend started while the Bell breakup was still being fought in court. Deregulation of everything from banks on down, union-busting, relaxing minimum wage laws, corporate welfare, lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy, relaxing of anti-trust laws, relaxing of corporate ownership laws ... these were one of the (other) hallmarks of the 1980s, when the telecommunication monopoly was (finally) broken up. Of course, the American people were repeatedly promised that removing a century's worth of controls and allowing unrestrained (and taxpayer nurtured) capitalism would create vast wealth that would "trickle down" to everyone -- a prediction that was exactly half right.
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so....
can I setup a streaming service from my comcast-based IP to my local comcast friends? and stream HD Video? I would create the content...but make it UHD. And allow my local friends to watch the video?
no. we would be charged with excessive bandwidth
and this is where the net-neutrality violation part comes in.
I can't just make a Steam service and let it compete.
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Re:
It's all the same cable coming into your house, but upstream of that somewhere it comes from different places.
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Semantics
That's the kind of semantic game Comcast, T-mobile and such are playing with their data "exemptions". And so far the FCC has gone right along with it. I guess the FCC doesn't have quite the balls of the EEOC.
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"In cases where people are stuck with Time Warner or Comcast, this would provide an opportunity to leave".
They must be truly hated.
When will the citizens of USA take their democracy back and roll out municipality broadband on a national scale?
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International trade court
Comcast is a corporation so it is exempt from this.
So your suggestion wouldn't work.
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I don't know what everyone expected
The prime enforcer of authoritarian ideology is economic not military, by the time the state brings in the military to put down any sort of real rebellion it would be far to late, but if you can deprive people of the resources to have a rebellion in the first place your way ahead of the game.
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Wake up sheeple!
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It's like our TV service, like...
David Cohen: Well, it's like me. I'm an executive vice president you see. (putting hand on regulator's thigh)
Regulator *alarmed*: HEY! What are you doing?!
Cohen: Look kitten, we can all agree that I'm just your regular upper management type, right? Definitely not a sleazy lobbyist greasing the skids. (moving around back for some shoulder massage work)
Regulator *contemplative*: Hmmm...over to the right a little.
Cohen: Yesssss...any work you need done on your house? Do you have dinner plans tonight? Perhaps we can discuss some plans for the new patio. Pretty sure Stream is like TV - it's on a screen, correct?
Regulator: ahhhhhhhh...definitely like TV...
/creepy
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