Wikio Blogs - business

[Business] How the RIAA finds you're sharing music, assuming you are dumb (CrunchGear)

CrunchGear — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:20:00 GMT

In a discussion with the Chronicle of Higher Education, an RIAA representative describes how they find and attack music sharers. Here’s how they do it: 1. They go to a computer. 2. They start LimeWire. 3. They look for a popular song (I hear the kids are into rap so let's assume they look for “Gonna Gat-Cap Your [...]

Mark Evans : Feist is Fab But… ...
Cnet : RIAA reveals how it tracks college file sharing ...

blogs : [Geeks are Sexy] technology news,Mark Evans,CrunchGear,Music News,broadbandreports.com...
(12 posts, last update: 15/05/2008 22:20)

[Business] Martin Sullivan Deathwatch (Market Movers)

Market Movers — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:16:53 GMT

In terms of Jack Flack's five levels of CEO media hell , AIG's Martin Sullivan has now graduated from "on the ropes" to "dead man walking". The WSJ's headline says it all: "AIG's Chief Faces Worries Of Investors and Directors" - which means that board members are now grumbling to the press, rather than to the CEO directly. When that happens, it's all over - especially with Hank Greenberg grumbling loudly on the sidelines: Several top shareholders of AIG have called me expressing deep concern about the persistent and seemingly endless destruction of value at AIG. They, and I, are deeply distressed by the excessive loss of value... AIG is in crisis. There's no way that Sullivan can survive this. The question isn't whether he'll be ousted, only when. Related Links Heat Is On AIG Chief Today in the Art World...

Seeking Alpha : Martin Sullivan Deathwatch ...
MarketBeat : Four at Four: Hank On a Rampage ...

blogs : MarketBeat,Seeking Alpha,Market Movers...
(3 posts, last update: 14/05/2008 16:16)

[Business] Why legal barriers are not critical to deterring immigrants (Vox)

Vox — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:30:00 GMT

Drew Keeling , 12 May 2008 Debates about immigration policy often assume that legal barriers are crucial to preventing massive influxes of immigrants. This column argues that, historically, most potential immigrants chose not to relocate, even when the cost of immigrating fell. Full Article: Why legal barriers are not critical to deterring immigrants

Economist's View : "Why Legal Barriers are Not Critical to Deterring Immigrants" ...
naked capitalism : Links 5/13/08 ...

blogs : Vox,Economist's View,naked capitalism...
(3 posts, last update: 13/05/2008 07:30)

[Business] Let's not write the Fed a blank check (Interfluidity)

Interfluidity — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:55:00 GMT

Last week, the Fed decided to ask Congress for the right to pay interest on bank reserves. (Hat tip Barry Ritholtz, see also William Polley, Mark Thoma,...

naked capitalism : Waldman: Halt the Fed's Mission Creep ...
MarketBeat : The Fed's Checkbook ...

blogs : Unenumerated,Economist's View,MarketBeat,naked capitalism,Interfluidity...
(5 posts, last update: 13/05/2008 20:55)

[Business] Time for Harvard to Move? (Greg Mankiw's Blog)

Greg Mankiw's Blog — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:56:00 GMT

The Wall Street Journal reports one of the most pernicious ideas I have heard of late: Massachusetts legislators, demonstrating a growing resentment against the wealth of elite universities in tight economic times, are studying a plan to levy a 2.5% annual tax on the portion of college endowments that exceed $1 billion. The effort takes aim at one of the primary economic engines of the state, which is home to nine universities with endowments that surpass the $1 billion level, led by Harvard University's $35 billion cache, the nation's largest.... Supporters said the proposal would raise $1.4 billion a year. Based on the most recent size of Harvard's endowment, the university would have to shell out more than $840 million annually. If this were to pass, here is what I would consider: 1. Instead of expanding the university into Alston, Harvard could create a second campus in another state. Call it Harvard South. (Put it in a better climate than Boston, and I would be one of the first faculty to volunteer for the move.) 2. Transfer much of the endowment to Harvard South. Support Harvard North by slowly selling off land in Massachusetts. 3. Eventually, make Harvard South the main campus, and Harvard North the satellite. If the state lawmakers remain hostile, close Harvard North down entirely. I have often wondered what the efficient scale of a university is and, in particular, whether it would be better to create a second Harvard with the university's wealth than to expand the first one. Maybe the Massachusetts state legislature will give the powers-that-be at Harvard an incentive to consider more radical expansion plans.

FelixSalmon.com : Taxing the Harvard Endowment ...
Greg Mankiw's Blog : The Empire Strikes Back ...

blogs : Greg Mankiw's Blog,The Creativity Exchange,Free Exchange,California Medicine Man,Isaac Schrödinger...
(8 posts, last update: 12/05/2008 17:56)

[Business] Militant Hindoos? (Plains Feeder)

Plains Feeder — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:10:15 GMT

Sacred Beef Steaks - Holy Hamburger From the Drudge Report: BRITISH AIRWAYS takes beef off menu to avoid offending Hindus... I always thought Hindus weren't as thin-skinned as Mohammedans. British Airways won't serve beef in flight in spite of the fact that Hindus are generally quite tolerant of others. Its a case of Dhimmitude gone wild; its obsequious proponents extending the appeasement to them as might possibly be offended. As one Daily Mail commenter wrote, British Airways will next offer " no food for fear of offending anorexics and bulimics." I think they ought to keep Mohammedans off the planes. They are offensive to everyone and, who knows, might be plotting a terror attack. --- Many American and European cats associate Hinduism with pacifist non-violence. This is a big mistake, probably resulting from a failure to discriminate between Hindus and Buddhists. Hindus make great soldiers and India, 80% Hindu, has atomic bombs. The Hindu religion has an entire varna (it is politically incorrect to refer to a caste ) given over to the martial way of life, the Kshatriya . The 'plot' of the Bhagavad Gita , a text most of us think we know as a sort of Hindu Testament, revolves around a man's decision to go to war. When Hindus become militant, the first cats they attack are usually the Mohammedans . Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess, but militant Hindus have been known to go after Christians as well. In today's 'blame everyone but yourself' world anyone can be your oppressor. --- Reminds me of the only time I ever heard of Hindus causing trouble in the UK. Again, the matter was beef, in the form of Shambo the Sacred Cow . Seems Shambo tested positive for TB and the law required it to be destroyed. Out of the woodwork came the militant British Hindoos .

Hindu Press International : Beef Off the Menu To Avoid Offending Hindus, Says British Airways ...
Truemors : No Beef on BA ...

blogs : The Two Malcontents,Religion News Blog,Hindu Press International,Truemors,Plains Feeder...
(6 posts, last update: 11/05/2008 00:10)

[Business] At Big Time 100 Bash, Rupert Murdoch Plays it Cool (The New York Observer Media Mob)

The New York Observer Media Mob — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:43:36 GMT

Rupert Murdoch was standing in a deep corner of the Rose Hall at about 7:30pm last night to toast his fellow influencers: it was the Time 100 celebration, an event that drums up publicity for the magazine's decreasingly influential list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The day before, Mr. Murdoch had promised investors and reporters listening in on a News Corp. investors' call that he'd prevail in his purchase of Newsday over rival bidders Mort Zuckerman and the Dolans. Sam Zell, he said, was a man of his word and had agreed to sell; if hurdles like the Federal Communications Commissions rules about media monopolies got in the way, he'd sue to make them go away. Last night he tempered his bravado. "Yeah, I might have gone a little too far saying it was a certainty," he told The Observer. "I was telling the truth, but you don't know until ..." He trailed off. "[Mr. Zell] has a great reputation with the banks and the financial circles everywhere," he said a moment later. But the big buzz around Rupert originates from his purchase more than a year ago of The Wall Street Journal. Has the Journal really improved since he took it over? "Yes," Mr. Murdoch said. "But it's got a long way to go. It's breaking more news and it has a lot more news in it--political and international." He said they'll hire Mr. Brauchli's replacement in "a couple weeks, maybe three." At that moment, fellow influential-type Martha Stewart interrupted to say hello to Mr. Murdoch. "I wanna get a picture!" she called out generally. A photographer scurried over and obliged. "I have a great picture of your mother!" Ms. Stewart said to Mr. Murdoch. "Is she still alive?" "Yes," Mr. Murdoch replied. "I'm so glad," said Ms. Stewart. "My mother, she lived only to 93. It's my first Mother's Day without her." Ms. Stewart remembered the time a few years ago when Mr. Murdoch's mom made her a salad in Australia, using vegetables from her garden. "Delicious! It was amazing. But she didn't want to talk about her son at all!" Mr. Murdoch was with his wife Wendi, and eventually worked his way to Paul Steiger. In the Time 100 issue itself, which adopts an Interview magazine like conceit of allowing subjects to be interviewed by non-reporters, Mr. Steiger, the former Wall Street Journal managing editor, is Mr. Murdoch's interlocutor. It was not, how do you say, a hardball. And it didn't go over very well inside the Journal either. Staffers weren't too happy when Mr. Steiger took a multimillion dollar parachute out of his job from Mr. Murdoch; imagine how they felt when they saw this interview, which was conducted ages before Mr. Murdoch dispensed with Mr. Steiger's successor, Marcus Brauchli, but hit newsstands just as the newsroom was cooling off from that blow. "I love the people [at the Journal ]," he said. "I don't think they'll stay mad at me for long." Soon afterwards, Time Warner C.E.O. Jeffrey Bewkes turned up to ask Mr. Steiger what happened to Mr. Brauchli. We didn't get the answer. At dinner, Mr. Murdoch sat next to Rick Stengel, editor of the whole shebang, who in turn was seated next to John McCain. Sen. McCain made the list, as did both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But the rumor circulating around the room last night to explain why he was the one who showed up was that he wanted to bend Mr. Murdoch's ear, and knew he was going to be sitting close. We're not sure whether he got anywhere, but his toast to Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton was quite an impressive performance. "Senator Obama is a man of unusual eloquence who has performed the great service of summoning to the political arena Americans who once thought that it was of little benefit to them," he said. "Senator Clinton has demonstrated great tenacity and courage. I count myself among their many admirers." Mr. Murdoch also was in a prime spot for the performance of blushing bride Mariah Carey. Mortimer Zuckerman, owner of Mr. Murdoch's tabloid rival, The Daily News , and one of his competitors in the bid to buy Newsday , was stuck up in the rafters, about as far from the stage as you could be. "I don't know what they're going to do," he said about Sam Zell and the Tribune Co.'s big decision about whom to sell to. Would he raise his bid, which currently matches Mr. Murdoch's? "No comment," he said, and then took a big bite of Arriana Huffington's dessert, a chocolate torte with chocolate espresso sauce and fresh raspberries. Ms. Huffington, with whom he has been linked romantically, was off working the room.

MediaBistro.com : Rupe May Have Been Exaggerating Newsday Timeline Just a Leetle Bit ...
Talking Biz News : Murdoch: WSJ is better, but has long way to go ...

blogs : MediaBistro.com,Talking Biz News,The New York Observer Media Mob...
(3 posts, last update: 09/05/2008 19:43)

[Business] Associations Now May Case Study: When the Chips Are Down (Acronym)

Acronym — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:39:15 GMT

The May issue of Associations Now featured the first article in our case study series to be written by a volunteer author; thank you to Jeff De Cagna for bravely taking the plunge! Jeff's case study focuses on an association...

Principled Innovation LLC : Check out my NACHO case study in Associations Now! ...
Principled Innovation LLC : NACHO Case Study in PDF ...

blogs : Principled Innovation LLC,Acronym...
(3 posts, last update: 09/05/2008 16:39)

[Business] WSJ to share content with London Times (Talking Biz News)

Talking Biz News — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:17:51 GMT

Robert Andrews of PaidContent.org reports that The Wall Street Journal will work more closely with sister publication, the London Times, now that they're both owned by News Corp. Andrews writes, “Times Online EIC Anne Spackman told me WSJ bosses flew to London today to meet her team: ‘It will be partly about tools, partly about deep [...]

Paidcontent : WSJ Plans Closer Ties With London Times; May Offer Business Tools ...
Content Bridges : King of the City Journalism is All the Rage ...

blogs : Paidcontent,paidContent:UK,Content Bridges,Talking Biz News...
(4 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 19:17)

[Business] Time to Get Prepared (The Entrepreneurial Mind)

The Entrepreneurial Mind — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:58:00 GMT

I remain somewhat concerned about the current slow down and/or recession. I remain very concerned about inflation. If you are an entrepreneurs, it is time to prepare for the worst. Here is a summary of a talk I gave to...

Lawrance G. Lux : Bad, Bad Debt! ...
Seeds of Growth : Time to Get Prepared ...

blogs : Lawrance G. Lux,The Entrepreneurial Mind,Seeds of Growth...
(3 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 15:58)

[Business] Blame the models (Vox)

Vox — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:55:41 GMT

Jon Danielsson , 8 May 2008 In response to financial turmoil, supervisors are demanding more risk calculations. But model-driven mispricing produced the crisis, and risk models don't perform during crisis conditions. The belief that a really complicated statistical model must be right is merely foolish sophistication. Full Article: Blame the models

Economist's View : Foolish Sophistication: Blame The Way Risk Models Were Used ...
naked capitalism : "Blame the Models" ...

blogs : Vox,Economist's View,naked capitalism...
(3 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 23:55)

[Business] The Gas Tax Holiday as a Symbolic Gesture (Pure Pedantry)

Pure Pedantry — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:07:24 GMT

Bryan Caplan writing in the NYTimes suggests that in spite of making no economic sense whatsoever the gas tax holiday might be a good idea as a symbolic gesture: The first is that the tax holiday is a relatively cheap symbolic gesture that makes truly bad policies less likely. The main causes of high gas prices are probably factors beyond our control, like rapid growth in China and India and low real interest rates. But voters don't want to hear this; they want politicians to "do something!" Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...

New York Times : Op-Ed Contributor: The 18-Cent Solution ...
Cafe Hayek : Caplan on the Gas-Tax Holiday (by Don Boudreaux) ...

blogs : New York Times,Free Exchange,The Right Coast,Pure Pedantry,Economist's View...
(6 posts, last update: 09/05/2008 18:07)

[Business] A depreciating asset (Power Line)

Power Line — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:36:49 GMT

The financial problems of the Minneapolis Star Tribune made the news over the weekend when the New York Post reported that the paper was on the verge of bankruptcy. Star Tribune publisher and chairman Christ Harte has denied that report, but acknowledged that management has retained the Blackstone Group to restructure its balance sheet. Avista Partners purchased the Star Tribune for $530 million only two years ago. The purchase price represented a 50 percent markdown over the price paid for the paper by the McClatchy Co. eight years earlier. Since Avista purchased the paper in 2006, it has continued to shed readers and advertisers. Avista has now written down the value of its $100 million investment in the Star Tribune by 75 percent, and the debt that accounted for most of the remainder of the purchase price paid by Avista is valued like junk : To finance its acquisition of the Star Tribune, Avista borrowed $340 million that was valued recently at 56 cents on the dollar, according to bid prices for "institutional leveraged loans." A subordinate loan of $96 million trades for 10 cents on the dollar. The Star Tribune's sports page must be one section for which readers buy the paper. Today sports columnist Patrick Reusse reflects on his 20 years with the Star Tribune, his 40 years as a local sports columnist, and the Star Tribune's financial difficulties. One reason that the Star Tribune continues to shed readers is its left-wing editorial bias. Since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, the paper's editorial page has served as a reliable voice of the Democratic Party calling for more government and higher taxes in one of the most highly taxed states in the country. For years its two metro columnists (Doug Grow and Nick Coleman) served as counterparts to the paper's editorial voice. The moment the Star Tribune added (my friend) Katherine Kersten to its lineup in 2005, Coleman decried Kersten's hiring in a bizarre message to Jay Rosen . Although Kersten has done some of the paper's best reporting over the past three years, she is treated like a foreign body that must be expelled from its host. Kersten's columns on the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, for example, which I wrote about in posts collected here , have provided a window onto a local scandal hiding in plain sight. The second of her two columns on TIZA was featured for a full day on Drudge and must have generated more traffic to its site than the Star Tribune has seen before or since. Yet not a single one of the Star Tribune's reporters or editors has seen fit to follow up Kersten's story with a look at the rest of the Twin Cities Muslim-oriented charter schools. The subject is obviously too hot. The Star Tribune has now posted a letter to the editor calling for Kersten's ouster from the paper on account of her two columns on TIZA: In response to questions prompted by Katherine Kersen's recent columns on Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), I decided to visit the school myself. What I learned during a tour late last month is that none of Kersten's concerns that the charter school is promoting religion in violation of a state law that prohibits public schools from doing so is valid. What I did see was excellent teachers hard at work in the classroom focused on improving student achievement. I saw engaged students of different religious and cultural backgrounds learning reading, math, government and science. I spoke with parents, teachers and administrators who all stressed their high standards for TIZA students. While an outsider, or someone like Kersten who is trying to validate a predetermined conclusion, might be tempted to brand Tarek ibn Ziyad as an "Islamic School" because it leases space from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, the school, like other charter schools in Minnesota that lease space from churches, is a separate entity. It does comply with federal law that requires all schools to accommodate a student's right to practice his or her religion. And unlike other charter schools that have faced financial and other administrative challenges, the school was recognized with a 2008 School Finance Award from the Minnesota Department of Education for its "sound fiscal health and financial management policies." Kersten's reckless journalistic standards have diminished this paper's credibility. Worse, they have threatened the safety of the children and staff at the school, which has been forced to take extra security measures in the wake of recent death threats. While I value a broad range of opinions from a variety of perspectives, I value the facts even more. Kersten's gross distortion of the facts in this case should compel Star Tribune management to ask for her resignation. REP. MINDY GREILING, DFL-ROSEVILLE; CHAIRWOMAN, HOUSE K-12 FINANCE DIVISION The letter fails to cite a single fact disputing Kersten's columns. It is more or less notable only as an act of thuggery on the part of its author and the Star Tribune editor of the letters section. It is difficult to imagine the paper running a comparable letter taking issue with Coleman or his like on the paper's editorial board. The Star Tribune provides a sad illustration of how a newspaper can become a corrosive force on the political and civic life of the community it serves. The financial difficulties of the Star Tribune prompt the thought that the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota would be improved by the paper's demise.

Star Tribune : Star Tribune's owner forced to write off much of its investment ...
Paidcontent : Minneapolis Star-Tribune Owner Avista Writes Down 75 Percent Of Investment; Falling Knife, Anyone? ...

blogs : Paidcontent,Content Matters,Power Line,Star Tribune...
(4 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 13:36)

[Business] With Petty Jackass, Senile Old Man Running Bear Stearns, It's A Wonder The Thing Lasted As Long As It Did (DealBreaker)

DealBreaker — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:53:46 GMT

We thought it was impossible at this point to dig up any more evidence to support the claim that Jimmy Cayne is a dick who cared more about his recreational activities (card playing, drug use, journalism ) than the company he was supposed to be running, but, damn it, it's been done. And in the same NYT article, another notion we once held regarding Wall Street—that it's the type of place that kicks you out on your ass long before the dementia sets in—is also blown out of the water. It's not surprising in the least that J-Cay would be the type of person to refuse to refer to an elder by the nickname he so obviously loved. Still, the extent to which JC went to deny Alan “Ace” Greenberg one of the last remaining pleasures in the twilight of his life is stunning. According to Landon Thomas, Cayne “makes a point” to “never” use the handle, and has “a standing order among some of his closer associates that anyone who uses the name Ace in his presence, owes him $100.” Due to the fact that virtually no one else at the firm shared Cayne’s inability to utter the one syllable proper noun, this is actually considered to be one of the J man's most prudent business decisions. Also in line with what we know but still beating his own record at prickish behavior is the story about how Cayne “convinced” Greenberg to stay at Bear last year, after he threatened to leave, citing a lack of respect, mostly from the big guy himself. The board, trying to stave off a PR crisis, told JC to get in there and make nice. Obviously any ounce of sincerity was out of the question, but they were probably under the impression Cayne could at least fake some stuff about Greenberg being “so important to the firm,” “a valuable part of the team,” “a living antique we don't want to lose,” and so on and so forth. As it turns out, not so much! Apparently all Cayne was capable of was citing some speech he’d given at a dinner that mentioned Greenberg’s previous work, before getting pissed off that a man of his stature had even been asked to do something so demeaning, and shouting “Alan, this is the opposite of disrespect, so don't tell me you are disrespected” and walking out of the room. In Cayne’s defense, he did have the respect not to put Greenberg in a choke hold and ask, “Why don't you just die, old man'” which you know he wanted to, but still. Way to make the guy feel wanted. (Another thing to note, for fairness sake, is that the reason Cayne had to cut things short was because he was late to play golf, and not because he didn't “give a baker’s fuck if He Whose Nickname I Shall Not Say stuck around or not.”) Shockingly left out of the article is the rumor we’ve heard that when Cayne found out those early negotiations between JPMorgan and the Fed had resulted in the Fed, feeling the equity investors didn't deserve jack, coming up with the $2/share deal, JC was so insulted that he said he’d rather see Bear go to zero than take two, and threatened to take adequate steps to ensure that end. (Cayne scrapped the idea when the Fed supposedly told him they spend the next twenty years investigating every move he ever made at the firm which, I think we can all agree, would've been awesome.) Oh, and “Ace” says that one of the reasons he wanted to leave, in addition to being disrespected, was a bout of depression stemming from his puppy not placing well in dog shows. Enjoy it while you can, Jamie Dimon. Behind Bear Stearns' demise, a royal battle at the top [IHT]

International Herald Tribune : Behind Bear Stearns' demise, a royal battle at the top ...
DealBreaker : Why Does Jimmy Cayne Bother Going Into The Office Anymore ...

blogs : DealBreaker,International Herald Tribune...
(3 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 16:53)

[Business] Comcast Considering 250GB Cap, Overage Fees - Insider provides details of new 'protocol agnostic' solution (broadbandreports.com)

broadbandreports.com — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:58:37 GMT

A Comcast insider tells me the company is considering implementing very clear monthly caps, and may begin charging overage fees for customers who cross them. While still in the early stages of development, the plan -- as it stands now -- would work like this: all users get a 250GB per month cap. Users would get one free "slip up" in a twelve month period, after which users would pay a $15 charge for each 10 GB over the cap they travel . According to the source, the plan has "a lot of momentum behind it," and initial testing is slated to begin in a month or two. "The intent appears to be to go after the people who consistently download far more than the typical user without hurting those who may have a really big month infrequently," says an insider familiar with the project, who prefers to remain anonymous. "As far as I am aware, uploads are not affected, at least not initially." According to this source, the new system should only impact some 14,000 customers out of Comcast's 14.1 million users (i.e. the top 0.1%). As a few of you may have noticed, Comcast received a public relations beating and is being investigated by the FCC for their use of Sandvine gear to throttle upstream P2P traffic. This practice of using forged TCP packets to "break" BitTorrent connections was discovered first in our forums in May of last year, some five months before the Associated Press story made national headlines. According to this source, the new system should only impact some 14,000 customers out of Comcast's 14.1 million users (i.e. the top 0.1%). Comcast also boots high consumption users from their network for crossing an invisible consumption threshold. Based on user testimony, this limit has varied from 100-600GB per month, depending on regional congestion. Customers who cross the limit are sent this disconnection letter , which fails to tell the user how much consumption is too much. When pressed, Comcast refuses to clarify. This new plan would seemingly change all that. The process is being built from the ground up around the idea of transparency as an effort to get the FCC off of Comcast's back. But the new system will also be part of a broader, industry-wide anti-piracy movement, part of which I discussed earlier today . The new cap will be coupled with plans to increase enforcement of DMCA letters sent to P2P pirates. "Up until now, letters sent out to account holders have not been tracked," the source says. "This will change, with progressively increasing penalties, up to disconnection of the account after four letters within a 12 month period ." This will be one way Comcast can maintain their promise to be "protocol agnostic," while still booting some high-consumption users. Up until now, DMCA letters sent out to account holders have not been tracked. This will change, with progressively increasing penalties, up to disconnection of the account after four letters within a 12 month period. -Comcast insider There's no word yet on whether Comcast will provide customers with a bandwidth-usage tracking system, but it seems likely, says the source. "I know that the customer service folks absolutely do not want people continually calling in to check on their status," they say. "Nor do we want to get into arguments over whose bandwidth monitoring is accurate" they say, referring to users utilizing their own bandwidth measurement tools. The source isn't certain whether this new cap and overage structure will be accompanied by throttling. Reading between the lines of their new deal with the Distributed Computing Industry Association, it seems likely that they'll ultimately be throttling just illegal P2P traffic, once network hardware evolves. Keep in mind that this project remains in its preliminary stage and the numbers could easily change. As Comcast has previously noted , they won't officially announce the new system until the end of this year. Comcast has yet to respond to several requests for comment, though I'll be happy to publish their confirmation or denial of the project specifics. I'm currently in the process of digging for additional information. "Personally, I think this is a step in the right direction and something that will benefit our customers," says my source. I've been writing about this issue for the better part of the last decade , and while I'm guessing many users will think a 250GB per month cap is too low and the $15 per 10GB overage fee is too high, at least the new limits are honest. read comment(s)

Scripting News : Comcast's 250GB limit? ...
Silicon Alley Insider : Does Comcast Want To Put Bandwidth Hogs On A Diet? Sounds Good To Us ...

blogs : Scripting News Annex,remove the labels | Gadgets & Life,broadbandreports.com,Scripting News,NewTeeVee...
(11 posts, last update: 08/05/2008 17:58)