[Judson50]

So engadget hit me with something I was anticipating this morning.

What do you think?

TEXT:

By Nilay Patel posted Dec 19th 2010 4:24PM

That slide above is no joke -- it comes from a marketing webinar put on by two companies that count Verizon, AT&T and Vodafone as clients, and it describes a system that identifies customer internet activity and charges a different rate for using Facebook than watching YouTube, while allowing access to Vodafone services for free. Yes, that's basically the nightmare scenario for net neutrality advocates. The two companies behind the slide are Allot Communications and Openet, which sell subscriber-management tools to carriers around the world -- tools that Allot's director of marketing says can scan even encrypted packets to determine what service customers are using and charge accordingly. We're not making this up -- here's the direct quote from the webinar:

[We use] a number of different methods to accurately identify the application -- methods like heuristic analysis, behavioral and historical analysis, deep packet inspection, and a number of other techniques. What's key is that we have the best application identification available on the market, which means that even applications that are encrypted or use other methods to evade detection will be correctly identified and classified... We essentially feed this real-time information about traffic and application usage into the policy and charging system. Each subscriber has a particular service plan that they sign up for, and they're as generic or as personalized as the operator wants.

Yeah, that's not how anyone actually wants the internet to work -- except carriers, who've been saying increasingly insane things about charging even smartphone manufacturers for customer data usage lately. What's more, it's rumored that the FCC will cave to Verizon and AT&T and exempt wireless internet service from major parts of net neutrality regulation it's expected to pass next week, so this nonsense could very well hit the US sooner rather than later. We'll be keeping a close eye on things -- we'll let you know. Meanwhile, listen to the webinar yourself immediately below.

SOURCE

[avt123]

Yea I read about this. Net neutrality please. Give me my data plan and just leave me alone after that, thanks.

[Rootbrian]

Yea I read about this. Net neutrality please. Give me my data plan and just leave me alone after that, thanks.

That's why I'm switching to wind mobile after my contract with telu$mobility ends.

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[avt123]

That's why I'm switching to wind mobile after my contract with telu$mobility ends.

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Yea. This is just bull**** though. I really do not want to pay for data like I pay for TV.

If a carrier with less coverage continues to offer what we currently have while the rest move to this plan, I would probably switch (only if the carrier doesn't have horrible coverage though).

[kbz1960]

Allot is responsible for a lot of spyware/adware or use to be.

Well tell the damn media and carriers and phone companies to quit pushing you need this if you're going to charge a damn arm and a leg for it.

If it goes to this crap I can live just fine without it but know there are a lot of people that will pay no matter what.

[avt123]

Allot is responsible for a lot of spyware/adware or use to be.

Well tell the damn media and carriers and phone companies to quit pushing you need this if you're going to charge a damn arm and a leg for it.

If it goes to this crap I can live just fine without it but know there are a lot of people that will pay no matter what.

The majority of people are going to pay no matter what. Especially if all carriers move to this type of plan. You will have no choice. And if you want these services, you will be forced to pay the fees.

Maybe on platforms like Android where if you root you can get free tethering, developers in the hacking community will come up with a way to mask those services as something else so you don't get the charge. We will just have to wait and see though.

[JRSCCivic98]

This is what happens when consumers shrug their sholders and don't keep the big companies in check. Some of you on here need to realize that complaints and constant crying from the consumer is the sort of negative action some companies need to be kept in check. You loosen up the leash too much and they'll run all over you to make more money.

A good example of this is how Best Buy no longer charges a restocking fee. Enough complaints and negative press and eventually you can control these large companies. It just takes constant pressure. The consumer public IS THE BIGGEST lobbyist that could possibly exist. The problem is, most of you don't realize this.

[Thud Hardsmack]

The majority of people are going to pay no matter what. Especially if all carriers move to this type of plan. You will have no choice. And if you want these services, you will be forced to pay the fees.

Maybe on platforms like Android where if you root you can get free tethering, developers in the hacking community will come up with a way to mask those services as something else so you don't get the charge. We will just have to wait and see though.

This is what happens when consumers shrug their sholders and don't keep the big companies in check. Some of you on here need to realize that complaints and constant crying from the consumer is the sort of negative action some companies need to be kept in check. You loosen up the leash too much and they'll run all over you to make more money.

A good example of this is how Best Buy no longer charges a restocking fee. Enough complaints and negative press and eventually you can control these large companies. It just takes constant pressure. The consumer public IS THE BIGGEST lobbyist that could possibly exist. The problem is, most of you don't realize this.

Civic is right. Most people seem to assume they're in the minority because no one else is saying anything, maybe a grumble here and there but nobody gets up and does anything until they see it in the news.

[avt123]

Civic is right. Most people seem to assume they're in the minority because no one else is saying anything, maybe a grumble here and there but nobody gets up and does anything until they see it in the news.

I know she is right. And like I said, people will just conform to everything like they usually do.

Lets start the revolution! (A global one)

[Thud Hardsmack]

I know she is right. And like I said, people will just conform to everything like they usually do.

Lets start the revolution! (A global one)

I know you know she's right, I included your post because it's saying the same thing in a different way lol

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[kbz1960]

I know she is right. And like I said, people will just conform to everything like they usually do.

Lets start the revolution! (A global one)

If only, it is needed! Are you going to be our fearless leader?

[Thud Hardsmack]

If only it is needed! Are you going to be our fearless leader?

Leader isn't needed, that's the trouble with these things - everybody wants someone to start it and then they'll hop on the train. What's needed is the GROUP - get a group together and all a leader is needed for is to keep things organized and on task.

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[JRSCCivic98]

Power In Numbers!!!

Remember when VZW tried to nix the little "D" for the delivery confirmation for SMS on their network? What happened? People in the markets where they have changed that initially were calling 611 and raising ****. In less then a week, tech site ran the story that VZW was putting the function back in. lol

People as a group have more power then they think they do. The big issue is that almost all of them think the same about a problem, but don't act on solving it because they think no one else would do anything about it, when in fact everyone else thinks the same thing. If they'd all just realize that everyone else's mindset is the same, they would realize that they don't need to worry about no one else acting to back them up because everyone else wants the same thing.

[Thud Hardsmack]

Link in the sig might get some attention.

[FigureThisOut]

People as a group have more power then they think they do. The big issue is that almost all of them think the same about a problem, but don't act on solving it because they think no one else would do anything about it, when in fact everyone else thinks the same thing. If they'd all just realize that everyone else's mindset is the same, they would realize that they don't need to worry about no one else acting to back them up because everyone else wants the same thing.

This is true. This is what happened when AT&T moved to tiered data plans.
But AT&T convinced the sheep that it's just $5-$10 cheaper for "you." Didn't
even keep the same unlimited plan that they were going with. There are plenty
of people that need unlimited (5GB) whether they think they do or not. Then
they just get an overage and they think "Ah, well no big deal." Hopefully if the
other carriers go in this direction, the customers will cause a big caca-storm.

[Judson50]

This is what happens when consumers shrug their sholders and don't keep the big companies in check. Some of you on here need to realize that complaints and constant crying from the consumer is the sort of negative action some companies need to be kept in check. You loosen up the leash too much and they'll run all over you to make more money.

A good example of this is how Best Buy no longer charges a restocking fee. Enough complaints and negative press and eventually you can control these large companies. It just takes constant pressure. The consumer public IS THE BIGGEST lobbyist that could possibly exist. The problem is, most of you don't realize this.

We need to bring this to Twitter. Start a clever hashtag and demand that people retweet it. Enough tweets will change policy.

[Thud Hardsmack]

We need to bring this to Twitter. Start a clever hashtag and demand that people retweet it. Enough tweets will change policy.

And, Facebook.

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[Judson50]

Should we post this on twitter and fb:

http:// engt.co/h1Ep9Y #Verizon #ATT #Vodafone mobiledata charging diff rates 4 #fb & #YouTube RT #netneutrality #againstchargingperservice

Note there is a space between http:// and engt.co/h1Ep9Y when posting you need to remove that space.

[avt123]

If only, it is needed! Are you going to be our fearless leader?

If you want me to lead sure, sure lol. I will definitely help start and be in the first wave of assault!

[grover5]

There are lots of websites for this purpose. I receive emails regularly with updates as well as the phone numbers to call my representatives to let them know how I feel. There are several petitions being signed for this as well. It's not just the companies mentioned. Google has lobbied hard to end net neutrality as well.

[techman4112]

If this really goes into affect I'm terminating my service with Verizon, going back to my family's family plan on Tmobile, going back to a feature phone and buying an iPod touch for entertainment.

I like my Droid X and service with Verizon but if these companies are gonna try and nickel and dime me even more well they can suck my ****.

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[Judson50]

Just posted on twitter...fyi.

[syb0rg]

I know she is right. And like I said, people will just conform to everything like they usually do.

Lets start the revolution! (A global one)

viva la revolucion

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[sston011]

This is so crazy to me. I remember reading about the end of net neutrality in 2006 and thinking it would never happen, but i guess I was wrong. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Look out for internet providers (Cox, Comcast,etc) to follow suit.

[Thud Hardsmack]

This is so crazy to me. I remember reading about the end of net neutrality in 2006 and thinking it would never happen, but i guess I was wrong. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Look out for internet providers (Cox, Comcast,etc) to follow suit.

Cox already does, more money = more bandwidth. I keep seeing that they now offer mobile service but keep forgetting to look into it.

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