By Saul Hansell
Comcast is starting to test new approaches to protecting its network from what it describes as congestion caused by a handful of customers who use far far more bandwidth than everyone else. It will test new devices that will keep track of Comcast users and assemble a blacklist of heavy users. Those on the blacklist will find that all of their online activities may slow down at peak times: from downloading movies to checking e-mail.
For now, these restrictions are just as mysterious as the secret blocking of BitTorrent. Charlie Douglas, a Comcast spokesman, said the company would not disclose what sort of usage it takes to get on the black list, how long someone stays on it and if there is any way to get off. Most significantly, Comcast won’t even tell users if they are on the black list. More
Sphere: Related Content