ISP download caps to slow swapping?

[sbp]

High-speed Internet service providers are considering adopting new pricing plans that if widely adopted could take a bite out of file swapping.

For the past few years, many broadband ISPs have been frank in saying that file-swapping services such as Napster and Kazaa have been among the most popular activities on their networks. This has led to a small proportion of dedicated file swappers, known as "bandwidth hogs" within the industry, who account for a hugely disproportionate amount of network traffic.

Now many of the biggest high-speed ISPs are considering capping the amount of bandwidth that their subscribers can use per month, a move that could undermine subscribers' free swapping ways--something that many lawsuits have not yet been able to achieve. If people know they have a limited amount of bandwidth available, the thinking goes, they'll be less likely to download voraciously or allow people to upload songs and music from their computers.

According to Michael Harris, president of Kinetic Strategies, a research company that follows the broadband marketplace closely, the ISPs can't help themselves. "Every major broadband provider is seriously weighing pros and cons of bandwidth consumption caps," he said.

much more here: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975320.html

[whitak24]

i can't exactly blame them.

with the RIAA passing out lawsuits like halloween candy, it's easier to just find ways to limit the swapping and avoid legal trouble.

[Merlin]

I'm sure someone will try it (I hope it is not AT&T Broadband!) and see how it goes. I think it will have an impact on their subscriber growth. Afterall, if your downloading ability is limited then why bother switching to a service that costs 5 to 10 times more? These guys are just looking for ways to increase their revenue streams. I can't blame them for that. Although when their customers start to switch to competitors we'll see a real quick change in corporate direction.

[Butch]

Originally posted by Merlin
I'm sure someone will try it (I hope it is not AT&T Broadband!) and see how it goes. I think it will have an impact on their subscriber growth. Afterall, if your downloading ability is limited then why bother switching to a service that costs 5 to 10 times more? These guys are just looking for ways to increase their revenue streams. I can't blame them for that. Although when their customers start to switch to competitors we'll see a real quick change in corporate direction.

Definitely looking to increase revenues. Pleasing the RIAA is, at best, a secondary issue for them - most likely tertiary or even of less significance.

I doubt you'd see a huge change in broadband customer growth nor a sizeable switch between companies. The vast majority of people would never approach the cap limit. Just a random guess, but I'd say 95% of online users on private residential broadband services would never/rarely go over the threshhold set. The other 5% would be considered undesirable consumers - and would not be missed if they wanted to switch services.

[revil]

one of these day's i'll be rich enough to buy my own pipe. then i don't have to worry about this kind of crap.

[i6s1]

My ISP has an unofficial cap, 10gb down and 2 up. They only bug you if you double it, which I have done. It didn't make me switch. I realize they've got costs too, and 10/2 really is enough. The only sad thing is that N'Sync fans can no longer dl 100gb in a month from me.

[revil]

my computer uptime is 16 days 15 hours.
my read sum is 95.5 gb
my write sum is 33.6 gb
these are a little inflated due to the talk between my comuter and my router.

i think i would be undesirable...

[Merlin]

Originally posted by Butch


Definitely looking to increase revenues. Pleasing the RIAA is, at best, a secondary issue for them - most likely tertiary or even of less significance.

I doubt you'd see a huge change in broadband customer growth nor a sizeable switch between companies. The vast majority of people would never approach the cap limit. Just a random guess, but I'd say 95% of online users on private residential broadband services would never/rarely go over the threshhold set. The other 5% would be considered undesirable consumers - and would not be missed if they wanted to switch services.

I think more people use Kazaa than you give them credit for.

[Butch]

It's not a matter of using Kazaa or not . . . it's a matter of using it to the level that would approach whatever cap is to be instituted. I use Kazaa, but I RARELY download 100 megabytes in a month.

Broadband service providers have to allow for a fairly high limit since one of the major promises of broadband is legitimate streaming audio and video ie. news broadcasts. If they were to set a limit so low that someone could not enjoy the legitimate purposes of broadband (which can definitely be pretty bandwidth intensive), they would be doing themselves a disservice. They won't do that. They would probably set a limit that would only really effect a relatively small % of their users.

Also, please remember that I purposefully caveated my original point that I was referring to private residential broadband users. I made sure not to include Universities.

[i6s1]

There are 2 sides to it. You may only use a little, but you are downloading from others who may also be limited by caps. They are your source.

Those 5%ers that the ISP sees as a problem are the ppl with lots of $hit on thier drive that we want. They are not problem users, they are the ones who supply US with pr0n and N'Sync. I don't have a problem with ISPs capping, but we should realize that cap would affect ALL Kazaa users, even if you aren't one to go near the limit. (the 95%)

So even if you only use 100megs, you may have a tougher time finding content to dl, if they put in caps.

[InfiniteNothing]

Is it possible that this might actually drop the prices of highspeed internet. It seems like we should each pay for what we use. I don't use THAT much bandwith so I should only have to pay $30/month. Revil on the otherhand should pay $100/month.

[Merlin]

Originally posted by Butch
. . . it's a matter of using it to the level that would approach whatever cap is to be instituted. I use Kazaa, but I RARELY download 100 megabytes in a month.

I hear what you are saying, but I personally download about 100megs a day. It is where I get episodes of Smallville, Enterprise, the Sopranos, et. cet. Additionally, I think a lot of people download movies, which are typically large files. So what are the majority of users doing? I don't know, but I suspect that if someone if flipping the bill for broadband ($50 per month in my case)they are going to make sure they get their money's worth.