Phone, Cable Firms Rein In Consumers' Internet Use

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Peter Grant peter.grant@wsj.com and Jesse Drucker jesse.drucker@wsj.com]
Several large telephone and cable companies are starting to make it harder for consumers to use the Internet for phone calls or swapping video files. Some of the companies say the users are hogging bandwidth, taking up too much space on networks and slowing down service for all customers that tap the Internet for email, video, music, phone and other services. Wireless phone companies like Verizon Wireless and Vodafone stipulate in their subscription contracts that customers can't use the company's high-speed Web-access networks for Internet calling -- or may prohibit usage in the future. Several cable companies are using technology to cap the speed at which some of their customers can swap videos. A number of equipment companies are selling software and other products designed to block and monitor Internet applications such as phone calls, video and photo downloads. Many telephone and cable companies have begun to closely monitor the uses of their network with an eye toward controlling activity by users who are swapping movies, TV programs, pornography and other video files. Operators say file sharing is growing so quickly, it threatens to sharply slow down other uses. Critics say the big operators are using their concerns about heavy network traffic to fight competition from smaller rivals that are using the phone and cable companies' networks, like Internet calling companies Skype or Vonage. Others say that telecom companies may use their control over the networks to charge users more money if they want higher quality. "They claim it's a network-management issue when it's really a revenue-maximization issue," says Mark Cooper, research director for the Consumer Federation of America. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said that market forces would prevent operators from curtailing applications that run on their networks, but he also says the FCC is looking into guidelines to protect consumers on this issue. Earlier this year, telecom provider Madison River Communications stopped blocking Vonage's service after the FCC intervened. While there aren't yet specific laws to enforce so-called net neutrality, a FCC spokesman said the commission relied on its broad authority "to ensure an efficient communications network at reasonable charges" in its action on Madison River earlier this year.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112985651806475197.html?mod=todays_us_pa...
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