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BT fined £42 million for fudging late broadband payments
Ofcom's crackdown of BT and Openreach continues. The UK regulator has dealt the pair a £42 million fine for late broadband installations fitted on behalf of rival internet service providers, such as Sky and Virgin Media. Openreach handles the bulk of Britain's broadband infrastructure -- so to keep the market fair, it's legally obliged to set up new lines within 30 working days. Inevitably, Openreach encounters problems and occasionally can't meet that deadline. In exceptional circumstances, it can assume a contract extension by the ISP and reduce the compensation it would normally have to pay. However, Ofcom found that BT did this "retrospectively over a sustained period" to avoid fines. Tut-tut.
How the UK plans to block illegal Kodi soccer streams
Last week, at the High Court, the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) was granted stronger powers to crack down on the illegal streaming of English football matches. Instead of chasing websites hosting live players, the League can now block the servers that provide the live feeds, cutting off "Kodi boxes" -- a combination of legitimate media centre software with non-authorised third-party plugins -- and similar IPTV services. But how will it be enforced? Now that the order is publicly available, we can shed some light on how the FAPL intends to utilise its new powers.
New York City sues Verizon over its fiber rollout
When New York City said it was upset with Verizon for allegedly backtracking on a promise to bring FiOS service to every household in the city, it wasn't joking around. The city has sued Verizon, accusing the telecom of failing to live up to a cable franchise agreement that required fiber to pass by all residences in the city by mid-2014. The company also didn't complete some requested installations, according to officials.
Republicans hope to overturn internet privacy rules
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai isn't the only one bent on rolling back internet regulations. Republican Senator Jeff Flake is planning to submit a resolution that would eliminate the FCC's recently instituted broadband privacy rules through a vote. It's not certain when the resolution would move forward, but there are reportedly 12 co-sponsors. Of course, this is assuming that the FCC doesn't act first -- Pai objected to the privacy rules in the first place.
Is the UK's new piracy email alert program dead on arrival?
All of the UK's major internet service providers have just embarked on a new project aimed at curbing digital piracy. As part of a bigger campaign to promote legal sources of media, spearheaded by copyright holders and the UK government, ISPs have signed up to the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme. Under this, providers have agreed to send warning emails to subscribers when their IP address has been implicated in illegal file-sharing. Rather than being threatening, these emails are intended to be educational, informing people of what's happening on their connection and pointing them towards all the legal ways they can watch the latest DVD releases. There's just one problem: It doesn't work.
US internet providers stop sending piracy warnings
Remember the media industry's vaunted Copyright Alert System? It was supposed to spook pirates by having their internet providers send violation notices, with the threat of penalties like throttling. However, it hasn't exactly panned out. ISPs and media groups have dropped the alert system with an admission that it isn't up to the job. While the program was supposedly successful in "educating" the public on legal music and video options, the MPAA states that it just couldn't handle the "hard-core repeat infringer problem" -- there wasn't much to deter bootleggers.
UK ISPs will soon send written warnings to suspected pirates
UK ISPs will begin sending out emails to subscribers later this month, warning them of movie, TV and music piracy identified on their connection and pointing them to legal content sources. All four major providers -- Sky, BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk -- have agreed to the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme, an anti-piracy initiative that's been in the works since the summer of 2014. It's the active component of Creative Content UK, a partnership between copyright holders, the government and ISPs that aims to combat digital piracy in an educational, non-threatening way.
Britain's film board to enforce online porn age checks
The UK government is inching closer to a new piece of legislation that will require porn sites to introduce age checks. Such an idea has been kicking around for well over two years, but finally the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) seems ready to implement it. An amendment to the Digital Economy Bill will give the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) the power to block sites that fail to abide by the new rule. Should they find a porn provider breaking the law, they'll be able to contact ISPs, including mobile networks, and request that they restrict access.
Cox brings its internet data caps to Florida and Georgia
Like it or not, you're going to have a hard time escaping the clutches of landline internet data caps. Cox has expanded its trial 1TB data caps from Cleveland to include customers in Florida and Georgia. Once a two-bill grace period expires, you'll have to pay $10 for every 50GB of data you consume over the limit. You'll start getting warnings if you reach 85 percent of your cap. It's not clear if or when Cox will expand the trial or make it permanent, but it won't be shocking if it becomes a mainstay.
The FCC's new privacy rules shield personal data from your ISP
A new set of privacy rules approved by the FCC today will require broadband providers to ask for your permission before collecting data about your browsing habits, app usage and location or financial information. The rules reverse the current status quo, in which your ISP can track all that data unless you explicitly opt out.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 11: Everybody Hurts
Managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Mona Lalwani join host Terrence O'Brien to talk Macbook rumors, Amazon ISP ambitions and Julian Assange. Then they'll talk about all the work that went into Engadget's five part series covering the world's first cyborg games, Superhumans and look at VR's ability generate empathy.
The FCC wants ISPs to get permission before sharing your data
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed new rules on Thursday that would require internet service providers like Time Warner and Comcast to disclose how they use customers' personal data, and ask permission before sharing this information with outside organizations. Wheeler outlined the broad strokes of this plan in March, when the FCC voted to accept public comment on the proposed rules. Six months later, the comments are in and the full Commission will review the new plan at its monthly meeting on October 27th.
TalkTalk scraps line rental to repair hack-damaged brand
TalkTalk's image has suffered since it was hit by a "significant and sustained cyberattack" in June 2015. The hack affected its bottom line too, cutting profits from £32 million to £14 million last May. To aid its recovery, the quad-play provider is attempting a mass reboot today that includes retooled packages, new guarantees and a fresh marketing campaign. The biggest change is an "all-in" pricing model which, similar to Vodafone, bundles in your line rental fee. The company telegraphed this move back in May, and says it'll put "an end to complex, confusing packages."
Netflix calls on the FCC to fix 'unreasonable' data caps
Like most people, the execs at Netflix think data caps on home internet service are unreasonable. Unlike most people, however, Netflix has a directly line to the Federal Communications Commission and the company has asked the agency to reject those data caps on the basis that they limit individual consumers' ability to watch video online.
EU net neutrality guidelines close key 'fast lane' loopholes
When the European Union passed its net neutrality laws in 2015, it left a few big loopholes that many were worried would undermine the rules. Would your internet provider have free rein to exempt its own services from data caps, for example, or slow down competing services? You might not have to worry quite so much. The EU's electronic communications regulators have posted guidelines that, for the most part, rule out the potential abuses that came from the laws' vague wording.
Comcast begins gigabit internet trial in Chicago
Comcast has already revealed its plans to bring gigabit internet service to Atlanta and Nashville, and now it's now offering the option in Chicago on a trial basis. Like those other two cities, the cable company will use a DOCSIS 3.1 modem to deliver the 1Gbps speeds over its existing infrastructure. The new service is priced at $140 a month without a contract, plus any adds taxes and fees. As Consumerist notes, Comcast doesn't mention the option to sign up for three years and get a discounted rate, but it does say that it will "test promotional pricing during the trial period."
Washington state sues Comcast over its 'deceptive' service plan
Comcast doesn't have a stellar reputation for delivering what you pay for, and Washington state is taking the cable giant to task for that shoddy service... if not quite in the way you expect. It just filed a lawsuit against Comcast demanding more than $100 million over the allegedly "deceptive" nature of the provider's Service Protection Plan. The $5 monthly package ostensibly saves you from technician fees when you ask for a non-essential house call, but the company conveniently didn't tell most customers that the plan doesn't cover cable wiring inside your walls -- you know, the most common wiring there is. Customers reportedly lost "at least" $73 million in wasted subscription fees as a result.
Google Fiber buys a gigabit ISP that uses fiber and wireless
Hoping Google Fiber will come your way soon? The Alphabet subsidiary just made an acquisition that could help it roll out high speed internet faster. It agreed to purchase Webpass, a company that currently has "tens of thousands" of customers for high speed internet in the Bay Area, San Diego, Chicago, Boston and Miami. Webpass is notable because it's used high-speed point-to-point wireless technology as well as fiber to link up apartment buildings and businesses without having to wait for a physical link, and offers its customers speeds of up to 1Gbps.
UK ad watchdog forces ISPs to simplify broadband pricing
TalkTalk announced just yesterday that, later this year, it would simplify its broadband prices by including line rental in the monthly costs. And now we know why. Sure, a single figure makes it easier to understand what you'll be paying each month, but it was hardly an altruistic move. It's almost as if TalkTalk knew that today, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was going to confirm new guidelines that effectively force internet service providers (ISPs) to make broadband contract pricing more transparent.
TalkTalk to simplify broadband prices by including line rental
Line rental is one of the things you have to consider when taking out a broadband contract, since they almost always come hand in hand. But with these two separate monthly fees, one-off setup charges and introductory discounts, you need ten minutes and a calculator to figure out exactly what you're being asked to pay. TalkTalk has pledged today, however, that this autumn it's going to make everything that bit simpler, by bundling line rental and broadband costs into one, transparent monthly price for all of its packages.
