The FCC is looking to rule on the issue of Comcast stifling peer to peer traffic on their network. For those not on the up and up regarding Internet usage, the story is that Comcast decided to drastically lower the transfer speeds of customers using peer to peer filing sharing software, such at bit torrent programs. Apparently, though, Comcast isn’t the worst of them. Via Techdirt, w learn that AT&T has an outstanding threat to remove anyone using P2P software from their 3G network. Ouch, iPhone users. They claim they haven’t actually kicked anyone off yet, but you can bet they will eventually.
The reason, says AT&T, is that P2P programs use bandwidth perpetually, rather than in bursts. Mike Masnick of Techdirt then points to Pandora as an example of a streaming service which probably uses continual bandwidth. This is one of the most popular applications for the iPhone — and a killer way to keep the music fresh throughout the day. Is AT&T going to cite this application as a violation of their terms of service?
This doesn’t really come as a surprise, though. Networks, especially of a wireless nature, often don’t allow certain applications on their networks, because they want to figure out how to best monetize them first before implementation.
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