I've been saying for years that the government/corporations would make a move against the net. I knew making money at home and having your own online business was too good to be true, and eventually, the government and the corporations which control it would attack the Internet. Today Comcast has done just that. It was reported in the AP that Comcast is now blocking users from sharing files, which is an attack on Net Neutrality. Before some of you come in here and begin barking about how file sharing allows people to share pirated files, just remember that not all of the files which are shared on P2P networks are pirated materials. Many companies and businesses use P2P to advertise, distribute free products, among other things. An attack on P2P would greatly weaken the Internet as a whole. This is just the beginning of a war against the Internet:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21376597/ I demand all Comcast users to call Comcast immediately, and demand them to STOP blocking access to P2P. If they refuse, or give you a hard time, disconnect and switch to another ISP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sigh, half of it is because our networking and broadband in this country is shit. They need to control bandwidth since they oversell cable lines, and since the bandwidth available in the USA is swamped. Maybe if Comcast and their ilk stopped trying to buy politicians out and slow down FIOS and actually tried to compete with other broadband alternatives, we wouldn't be in this situation.
Well son of a B. I am a Comcast subscriber, mainly because it offered the fastest connection in my area for the best price. I agree with omgitsfletch that they should probably be focusing on better ways to solve the problem rather than this temporary fix.
The minute FIOS comes to my area, I'll be on it. Never mind that I like Verizon much more as a company than Comcast.
The market will decide. When a provider limits service, that creates opportunities for competition. Of course, with the President, Congress and Senate bought and sold, believe that they will hinder any legitimate entrepreneurial opportunities, and restrict competition to their lobbyists and campaign financers. Still, Comcast is making a poor service decision, and they might be called to the mat by encouraging a switch. The bleeding edge users drive the market when it comes to the internet and technology.
I think this is the beginning of an attack on the Internet. Some of you are saying that Comcast is doing it because of technical problems, but I believe there is a deeper agenda at work. I'm not saying that Comcast isn't doing this PARTLY because they are having bandwidth issues, but I don't believe this is the only reason. I've read too many reports about proposals to end net neutrality, and create a two tiered Internet where those who pay more get better service, which basically means the rich will control the net. This situation is very serious. If enough Comcast users can raise hell or disconnect, Comcast would be forced to think twice about continuing this policy. For example, last year I disconnected from AT&T and Switched to Clearwire, which is way better and cheaper. Clearwire isn't perfect, I mean, they piss me off sometimes too, but Clearwire is WAY better than the corrupt AT&T, who is involved in NSA wiretapping, and proposes the end of net neutrality. The CEO of AT&T implied that he "owns" the Internet pipelines. When I heard that, I immediately called AT&T and told them I wanted to disconnect. I will not pay money to a company with a CEO who proposes the end of net neutrality. I've been watching Clearwire, and If I hear that they are involved in this, I will disconnect them to. Clearwire has also been caught trying to block P2P, but I've figured out ways to bypass it.
Tesla, what is to stop us from going back to dial up on foreign networks? The US alone cannot shut down the net.
It is important to remember that large corporations like AT&T and others are multinational corporations, and they have no loyalty to the countries where they were founded. A big company like AT&T has global influence, and even if we tried to use foreign countries, massive corporations like AT&T could lobby their governments just like they do here in the U.S. Also, because of America's Constitutional foundation, if we lose net neutrality here, I believe the rest of the world is finished. The European Union has also talked about ending net neutrality, and they've even gone as far as to propose going after video sharing sites like YouTube. Dial Up is history, the needs of many Internet users is too much for Dial Up. In addition to this, Dial UP uses the Phone Lines, and AT&T owns a large percentage of the phone lines used in the U.S. I agree. There are a number of reasons why I don't think the U.S. government, and the corporations which control it, will win. First, the introduction of Web 2.0. When you think about it, Web 2.0 goes against everything those who propose the end of net neutrality stands for. I've written papers on Web 2.0, and many of its proponents advocate it as a method of making the Internet stronger against corporate/government attacks. Web 2.0 gives more power to general Internet users, allowing them to generate the content for a site. Social networks, wikis, and blogs would not be efficient if net neutrality ends. I believe Web 2.0 is the Internet community's answer to more government regulation. Another reason why I think the government/corporations will lose is because of the wireless Internet. In the past, in the dial up days, only corporations which controlled the phone lines could offer Internet access, and this gave them somewhat of a monopoly. For example, last year, when I was getting ready to disconnect AT&T, I called Earthlink to see if I wanted to switch to them, but the Customer rep told me that Earthlink has to go through AT&T to get net access, because AT&T owns all the phone lines. However, with the introduction of Wimax and wireless, AT&T is actually losing its monopoly on the Web. While AT&T may control the phone lines, it doesn't control the air, and the wireless signals that go through it. This is precisely why I switched to Clearwire. Clearwire is an independent company that is not under the control of AT&T. They send you a wireless signal, and you don't need a phone line. I've disconnected the phone line in my home. Wireless Internet is the next stage of Internet technology, because it allows you to receive a signal through the air. This means that more small start up companies like Clearwire will enter the market in the future, and large companies like Bell South an AT&T will have to compete with them for Internet access. Wireless Internet will become cheaper than phone line Internet, and Google has even proposed offering free wireless public Internet access. Wireless Internet is superior, because you can take it anywhere. For example, if I decided to take a vacation tomorrow, I could unplug my Clearwire Modem, put it in my luggage, and once I get to my destination, I could plug it into the wall and receive a signal. This can't be done with dial up, ISDN, or DSL, unless the hotel you're staying in happens to have it, which many do. This is another reason why I believe the government will lose. Because big corporations like Google, though they are far from perfect, feel that net neutrality should be maintained, and should AT&T lobby the government to end net neutrality, I believe Google, Amazon, and Microsoft will retaliate in a manner that fights back. Keep in mind, it is not that Google cares so much about us, but it is basically a battle between them and AT&T, this is what it is really about. Trust me, I'm not lot like a lot of webmasters here at Digital Point who grovel at Google, and I'm pissed at Google for many reasons. However, the one thing I agree with is the fact that Google supports net neutrality. That is important.
The best way to beat Comcast is to call them if you're a customer, and raise hell. Let them know that you will disconnect your service, and tell everyone you know about them blocking P2P if they don't stop. This is very important, because if enough people do this, and even disconnect and switch, Comcast will be forced to reverse this policy, because they want to remain competitive. Perhaps most importantly, it will send a message to other ISPs that users will not tolerate a company that blocks P2P file sharing. The people have the power to change things. While one person disconnecting from Comcast won't hurt them, hundreds of thousands of people disconnecting will send a strong message. I disconnected AT&T because of their corruption, and I encourage members here at DP to consider disconnecting Comcast, even though it may be inconvenient. The future of the Internet depends on it. I strongly believe that the days of AT&T and Bellsouth are coming to an end. While these companies currently dominate the cell phone market, I believe the future is spelled with one term: VOIP I've already disconnected my phone, and I don't even have a cell phone. I'm now using Skype, and I have unlimited long distance around the U.S. for $35 per year. While other people continue to pay $60 per month for their cell phone bill, with two year contracts, I'm saving more than $685 per year, money I can invest back into my online business. Right now, the biggest weakness VOIP has is its lack of portability. But this is temporary, and and wireless Internet technology continues to expand, VOIP will be adopted more, and I believe cell phones will eventually be replaced by VOIP phones, portable devices like cell phones that rely on a wireless signal to make phone calls rather than the radio waves currently used by cell phones. Small companies will cripple AT&T in both the ISP and VOIP market. AT&T is like a big dinosaur, and we all know what happened to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago..............