ISP Capping Is Becoming the New DRM 395
Crazzaper writes "There's a lot of controversy over ISP capping with Time Warner leading the charge. Tom's Hardware has an interesting article about how capping is the new form of DRM at the ISP level. The author draws some comparison to business practices by large cable operators and their efforts to protect cable TV programming. While this is understandable from the cable operator's perspective, the article points out how capping will affect popular services such as Steam for game content publishing and distribution, cloud-computing and online media services. Apparently this is also an effective way of going after casual piracy."
Re:In Europe (Score:3, Funny)
I've got a really long cat5 cable. Do you have an extra spot on your router? :)
Re:In Europe (Score:3, Funny)
As fast as that is, I'd go with the next step down. My NIC can't even go that fast!
Re: fixed amount of bandwidth (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe you can tell me then - I figured that a certain amount of money used from out monthly subscription would be re-invested into the company to allow it to expand indefinitely (or nearly indefinitely). Is this not the case?
Re:In Europe (Score:2, Funny)
It doesn't matter, really. The maximum length specified for cat5, cat5e, or even cat6 cable is only 100 meters. Beyond that, you'd need to add hubs to connect the lengths.
However, simply splicing together about 100 cat5s with wirecutters and electrical tape is doable. Just takes a while.:)
Re:In Europe (Score:4, Funny)
I know! We can take your provider and connect a series of switches, each of us getting a drop where we can add a router and add our machines behind that router.
We can make a network...and interconnected network of computers.
I'm going to call it...Ted!
Time Warner out to save the U.S. post office? (Score:2, Funny)
So what this means is that I should stop buying my games online and have them sent via the USPS instead of Steam/EA Download Manager/Microsoft Live? (Maybe it will save the USPS.) Maybe I shouldn't install MS Windows/Linux/other OS due to the amount of bandwidth the latest patches will incurred? Maybe I should forget about MMOs? This is a signal from Time Warner that we should all go back to 80's and use the Atari console again. To the time when content came in a cartridge. (Which Warner Bros. did own Atari at the time.) All things must be shipped in a box and come with manuals big enough to be used as a door stop. To the time before Al Gore invented the Internet. BTW I should stop reading /. to save on bandwidth.
On the other hand I can joke here. Time Warner isn't my ISP and isn't going to get my business anytime soon anyways. Luckily a consumer still has good choices today.