Fezmid Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 TW is building a lot of bad blood between itself and its customers, first with the NFLN, then with the CBS fiasco, now this. Basically they have "tiers" to determine how much you can download, and the higher the tier, the more you pay. If the tiers were reasonable, fine. But they're currently set to 5, 10, 20, and 40G. It seems to be a way to stop people from watching TV online (legally). My question is -- are they going to give you a tool to be able to monitor your bandwidth? How are they going to prove I'm the one even using it? If I know that Joe is online, there's nothing to stop me from flooding his IP address to raise his usage -- all transparent to him. Even worse, what if I sneak some malware onto his machine and use him as a P2P bot without him knowing? At least cell phones give you a way to check how many minutes you've used. Good luck doing that with bandwidth. http://techdirt.com/articles/20080118/170255.shtml http://www.tomshardware.com/news/time-warn...t-drm,7530.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I don't know if this is mentioned in either link, but TW is already starting to succumb to consumer pressure. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...D=2009904110327 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 I don't know if this is mentioned in either link, but TW is already starting to succumb to consumer pressure. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...D=2009904110327 That's not really succumbing to pressure -- a 1G/month plan, really? If you only download 1G/month, then you're better off with dialup. And their "cap" simply means your monthly bill will never go above $150. Ummm, yay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 They actually instituted this at Cornell when I was there. Much better pricing, however. A lot of time was spent dealing with people who were shocked after getting hit hard for bandwidth charges from a virus-infected computer. A man on a crusade has been following this issue closely at http://www.stopthecap.com EDIT: Cornell's philosophy was that it was up to you secure your computer. If you did not, then you had to deal with the consequences. They certainly provided plenty of top of the line security software for free and were flexible the first time it happens. I will bet that Time Warner will not be as forgiving or helpful. Many believe that the lack of FIOS competition in Rochester affected Time Warner's decision to test the Rochester market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 TW is building a lot of bad blood between itself and its customers, first with the NFLN, then with the CBS fiasco, now this. Basically they have "tiers" to determine how much you can download, and the higher the tier, the more you pay. If the tiers were reasonable, fine. But they're currently set to 5, 10, 20, and 40G. It seems to be a way to stop people from watching TV online (legally). My question is -- are they going to give you a tool to be able to monitor your bandwidth? How are they going to prove I'm the one even using it? If I know that Joe is online, there's nothing to stop me from flooding his IP address to raise his usage -- all transparent to him. Even worse, what if I sneak some malware onto his machine and use him as a P2P bot without him knowing? At least cell phones give you a way to check how many minutes you've used. Good luck doing that with bandwidth. http://techdirt.com/articles/20080118/170255.shtml http://www.tomshardware.com/news/time-warn...t-drm,7530.html I signed the petition but I didn't put my street address on that thing. Just my city and state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 The other thing to think about is that VoIP is pretty prevelant -- cable companies even offer it as an "unlimited service." So are they going to still give their own VoIP solution an exception to the bandwidth restrictions? If so, that's anti-competitive to companies like Skype and Vonage. If they do count the bandwidth use as part of the service, now it's no longer "unlimited." I was just reminded about this because I'm looking at my Comcast internet bill, and they're trying to sell me "unlimited phone service for only $19.99/month!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I don't know if this is mentioned in either link, but TW is already starting to succumb to consumer pressure. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...D=2009904110327 I know very little about my internet connection. I use standard road runner right now and I download very little, except for some pictures for my Photobook account. I also watch internet TV like Hulu and my computer has a cable connection for me to watch TV from my cable hook up. It's just like adding another TV without the cable box. How will this affect me? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 I know very little about my internet connection. I use standard road runner right now and I download very little, except for some pictures for my Photobook account. I also watch internet TV like Hulu and my computer has a cable connection for me to watch TV from my cable hook up. It's just like adding another TV without the cable box. How will this affect me? Thanks Depends on what tier they put you in. From the article: Here's some more logical math for your consumption: consider TWC's 40 GB tier. It costs a whopping $54.90 per month. If you only watch 7.25 hours a video per week, via Netflix, your Xbox 360, or any other service, you will be slapped with a bill of $200 at the end of the month. Worried? "Don't worry," says TWC's COO Landel Hobbs. "Overage charges will be capped at $75 per month. That means that for $150 per month customers could have virtually unlimited usage at Turbo speeds," says Hobbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kegtapr Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 The other thing to think about is that VoIP is pretty prevelant -- cable companies even offer it as an "unlimited service." So are they going to still give their own VoIP solution an exception to the bandwidth restrictions? If so, that's anti-competitive to companies like Skype and Vonage. If they do count the bandwidth use as part of the service, now it's no longer "unlimited." I was just reminded about this because I'm looking at my Comcast internet bill, and they're trying to sell me "unlimited phone service for only $19.99/month!" It's already being fought http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/congres...ling/2009-04-13 Someone was bound to try it eventually, TW was just the first in a big market without much competition. The push-back has been severe which is why they are already trying to save face by changing the limits. Unfortunetly, I think Massa's bill will fail, and TW will implement it. Even if it passes the court battles will commence. Other companies will use it as a marketing tool for awhile to get people to switch to them. Eventually, all providers will switch to this model as it will be more profitable to them and they will be fighting over who offers the largest cap for the lowest price. Only the cities with a lot of high speed competition are likely keep the old model. No Fios in Rochester and Frontier DSL is a joke. Unless it gets blocked, Rochester will be stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 If you only watch 7.25 hours a video per week, via Netflix, your Xbox 360, or any other service, you will be slapped with a bill of $200 at the end of the month. Well, at that cost, get out of that basement and up from that demented game rocking chair and that 5.1 surround or whatever, and go to the movie theater and buy popcorn, Sno-Caps, and actually be around living, breathing people and have conversations with them. Real people...casually met...just an idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Well, at that cost, get out of that basement and up from that demented game rocking chair and that 5.1 surround or whatever, and go to the movie theater and buy popcorn, Sno-Caps, and actually be around living, breathing people and have conversations with them. Real people...casually met...just an idea... while i dont agree with what TW is doing, i do agree with grampa cincy here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 Well, at that cost, get out of that basement and up from that demented game rocking chair and that 5.1 surround or whatever, and go to the movie theater and buy popcorn, Sno-Caps, and actually be around living, breathing people and have conversations with them. Real people...casually met...just an idea... It's only an hour of TV a day....... And why would I want to spend $40 to go to the movies every night.... That's way more expensive than the $150/month that TW wants to charge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Well, at that cost, get out of that basement and up from that demented game rocking chair and that 5.1 surround or whatever, and go to the movie theater and buy popcorn, Sno-Caps, and actually be around living, breathing people and have conversations with them. Real people...casually met...just an idea... Casually met? I cannot think of the last time I had a conversation with anyone I did not know before at a movie theater outside of "excuse me," "sorry for farting," "two for Jonas Brothers," and "shut up." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Casually met? I cannot think of the last time I had a conversation with anyone I did not know before at a movie theater outside of "excuse me," "sorry for farting," "two for Jonas Brothers," and "shut up." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 It's only an hour of TV a day....... And why would I want to spend $40 to go to the movies every night.... That's way more expensive than the $150/month that TW wants to charge! Who watches a movie every night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Who watches a movie every night? AJ does. But you said that instead of watching TV for an hour a day, I should go to the movie theater to be around real people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Who watches a movie every night? I'd bet there are more than a few guys here who watch over an hour of "video" a day on their PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 AJ does. But you said that instead of watching TV for an hour a day, I should go to the movie theater to be around real people. That's right. Dress spiffy, take your lovely bride out on the town to a movie or something else, every week. Buy the Sno-Caps, and the over-priced wine at intermission at the symphony hall. Always stroll hand in hand. No exceptions to this rule. I offer this to you as a gem necessary for domestic bliss that will last all your hopefully long lives. Get out of the house, not just on vacations. I know I am presumptive. If you object, you will have to get in line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 That's right. Dress spiffy, take your lovely bride out on the town to a movie or something else, every week. Buy the Sno-Caps, and the over-priced wine at intermission at the symphony hall. Always stroll hand in hand. No exceptions to this rule. I offer this to you as a gem necessary for domestic bliss that will last all your hopefully long lives. Get out of the house, not just on vacations. I know I am presumptive. If you object, you will have to get in line. I thought I was supposed to chat with strangers when I was at the movies...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I thought I was supposed to chat with strangers when I was at the movies...? I though digital people tout multi-tasking..no? You need not take their hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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