Get Ready for a Crackdown on Broadband Use

GET READY FOR A CRACKDOWN ON BROADBAND USE
[SOURCE: PCWorld]
Consumers using an expanding array of broadband services, including movie downloads, video games, online backup, and streaming audio and video, are flooding the nation's broadband pipes with data -- and it could cost them. Consumer advocates say that it's only a matter of time before average high-speed Internet users get slapped with the label "hog." Craig Aaron, spokesperson for SavetheInternet.com, worries that Internet users may soon be charged extra for using "too much" bandwidth or cut off from using some bandwidth-hungry software applications. Bandwidth demands in the United States have been doubling each year for some time, according to Tom Donnelly, cofounder of Sandvine, a network management firm. As this trend continues, Donnelly says, it puts pressure on ISPs and on applications such as file-sharing software and streaming multimedia content, giving ISPs an incentive to clamp down on heavy bandwidth users. Major broadband ISPs shrug off criticism that their networks can't handle the increased demand for bandwidth. "We've been successfully delivering broadband services to our customers for 10 years, and that's not going to change anytime soon," says Comcast's Mitch Bowling. Time Warner, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, and other ISPs echo those sentiments. "Our network is extremely robust and [bandwidth] issues aren't a problem for us," says Jim Mailla, spokesperson for Optimum Online, a Charter Communications company.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/16/AR2008021600120.html?nav=rss_technology/personaltech