SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Internet slowdowns at home aren't just annoying anymore. They can be hazardous to your health or dangerous if you're in an area that freezes.
Internet service provider Armstrong Zoom has roughly a million subscribers in the Northeastern part of the U.S. and is keen to punish those it believes are using file-sharing services.
The ISP's response to allegedly naughty customers is bandwidth throttling -- which is when an ISP intentionally slows down your internet service based on what you're doing online. In this case, when said ISP believes you're doing something illegal.
As part of its throttling routine, Armstrong Zoom's warning letter openly threatens its suspected file-sharing customers about its ability to use or control their webcams and connected thermostats.
The East Coast company stated: "Please be advised that this may affect other services which you may have connected to your internet service, such as the ability to control your thermostat remotely or video monitoring services."
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/05/pirates-risk-being-left-in-the-cold/
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 08 2018, @08:56PM (4 children)
There's a profile, if you move more than X bytes a month, particularly in such and such size chunks, there's a higher probability that you're "one of those people," and they will treat you accordingly. If you have a choice in ISPs, this isn't such a problem. Unfortunately, with private monopolies this kind of profiling amounts to illegal discrimination - but now you get the fun of proving damages in a court case before there's any real hope of justice/relief.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday January 08 2018, @09:04PM (3 children)
An interesting case would be to have actual damages. Prove them. And set a precedent.
In such a case, the ISP cannot know what is in your traffic and they have no right to know. That is a core argument of the action, that they are unfairly discriminating. Maybe there would be a lawyer that would take such a case on contingency.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @09:32PM (1 child)
Yeah, why don't you get right on that?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 08 2018, @11:07PM
Because it's so much easier to say than to do.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 08 2018, @09:40PM
Absolutely....
Not in the reality I live in.
🌻🌻 [google.com]