Law in the Internet Society

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JasonChanPaper1 4 - 10 Dec 2008 - Main.JasonChan
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The network neutrality double-speak

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 I think one main concern regarding network neutrality is the false advertising used in the sales practices of broadband ISPs. If someone is paying for a 1.5 MB/s pipe they expect to be able to use that pipe whenever they desire. But because the cable company sells more such connections than its bandwidth supports, they then desire to restrict bandwidth usage on certain pipes.

-- JohnPowerHely - 10 Dec 2008

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Thanks for the comment. I am reminded of Apple's response to its false advertising suit: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/apple-says-cust.html. I tried to see if the cable companies' advertising for internet service involved any "alleged deceptive statements ... that no reasonable person ... could reasonably have relied on".

What I found instead was Comcast expressly saying that it will restrict bandwidth usage for P2P? connections during periods of heavy congestion: https://www.comcast.com/Customers/FAQ/FaqDetails.ashx?Id=4389

Moreover, the companies are careful to describe their internet speed as "up to" 1.5mbps or 10mbps: http://www.timewarnercable.com/nynj/products/internet/earthlink.html

As such, I don't really agree that there is false advertising in the sale of the product. The use of the phrase "up to" may be a weaselly cop-out, but it does seem to take the cable companies' advertising out of the realm of false advertising.

-- JasonChan - 10 Dec 2008

 
 
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Revision 4r4 - 10 Dec 2008 - 23:53:41 - JasonChan
Revision 3r3 - 10 Dec 2008 - 00:43:02 - JohnPowerHely
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