Data Caps, LTE Preparation, Hijacked Searches and iPod Streaming?: [11th Aug 2011]

According to leaked information T-Mobile has plans to impose usage caps on their customers which will impose further charges. Until now the company has simply throttled those customers who use more than their monthly broadband limit. As of August 13 customers can expect 10 cents per MB to be added to their bill for every megabyte over 200MB which they use. A maximum charge will be put in place of $30 on Classic plans and $35 on Value plans. T-Mobile have said that they have had to change their approach to remain competitive, despite previously claiming that the fact they throttled rather than charged made them a great alternative to others.


Cablevision has announced it is now offering iPhone and iPod Touch users the ability to stream their full channel listing while inside their homes. However thy cannot offer the service outside the home due to licensing restrictions. Cablevision have the capabilities to offer the service outside the home, but are embroiled in a legal war over their iPad application which allows their service to be shown anywhere. Tom Rutledge the CEO of Cablevision has said that they hope to strike deals with broadcasters to allow viewing outside the home and as the devices are portable this make sense. Some broadcasters have already agreed.


Investors are becoming increasingly concerned the Clearwire may be in financial difficulty. The company has already admitted it is having trouble raising the $600 million needed to get ready for LTE and it seems that Sprint may not have a long term commitment to Clearwire - one thing the company is relying upon. Sprint now has an agreement with Lightsquared to provide their LTE network and so they my not need Clearwire after all. Sprint has also been working on its own LTE network including a $5 billion refit of their base station. Their deal with Lightsquared is for the next 15 years and will involve the sharing of spectrum and networks. It is thought that Sprint may be simply waiting for Clearwire to fail before it buys its resources cheaply.


It has emerged this week that 10 internet service providers are using a special piece of technology to secretly hijack search traffic. A researcher from ICSI has found that the ISPs involved are using a piece of software called Paxfire to redirect internet searches to improve their ad income. Users are redirected to a proxy which collects the web searches and results and forwards them to the intended search engine. Paxfire can then monitor all searches made by customers of the ISP and build up a profile of them. In some cases the customer has their search redirected to a web site or affiliate partner which helps the ISP to make money. 170 brand related searches have already been identified which are resulting in unintended search results. Users have not been informed. After this story broke, the ISPs involved stopped the practice, however this has not prevented a class action lawsuit being started accusing Paxfire of violating state and federal law. Paxfire claim they are improving the customer experience.


The claim that many people who are being taken through the courts for illegal downloading may be wrongfully accused has been strengthened by the case of the blind man in California. The man has been accused of downloading pornography which he is incapable of actually watching. 200,000 people have been accused of illegal downloading after users of Bitorrent were targeted. The blind man in this case has pointed out that he cannot watch these movies and his children are aged just 4 and 6 and so wouldn't be watching them either (one would hope). The man believes one of his neighbours may have used his wi-fi to download the movie. He says it will be cheaper for him to just settle and pay the imposed fine as it is impossible to prove his innocence.