* * * *BARDISSI
ENTERPRISES SPECIAL ISSUE*
* * *
This month’s newsletter
is dedicated to the ongoing dispute that
Comcast is having with the FCC and its
potential effect on you the customer. If
your aware, or not, of the situation,
then you will find this edition both
interesting and possibly alarming.
Because this is such an
unusual situation, with far reaching
effects, we are giving you the 2 columns
written on this subject matter and a
direct testimonial from one of our many
newsletter readers who have personally
experienced exactly what you will read
about in the newsletter articles.
• •
• •
THE INTERNET: WHY YOU
SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION TO COMCAST
BY George Bardissi
For those of you that
have possibly seen some of the recent
technology news, there has been a lot of
attention being given to some very
important things that everyone should be
interested in like it or not. The major
situation is related to consumers and
the internet, starting with the FCC’s
ruling against Philadelphia’s own
Comcast Cable in regards to how they
improperly and without consumer
knowledge managed their cable internet
network in such a way that the
government felt was unfair.
The next question would
be how or what did they do? Well,
Comcast was watching how customers where
using their internet connection from
each household and business. In the
event Comcast found that any location
was trying to transfer large files or
downloading massive data through certain
Peer- To-Peer software applications they
would cut the transmission of that
download or transfer without the
customer’s knowledge. Supposedly Comcast
has been doing this for some time and in
their defense Comcast claimed that they
did this in order to make sure that all
Comcast Internet Customers where getting
a fair share of bandwidth or internet
speed across their system.
The FCC felt that this
practice was unlawful and felt that on
top of the unfair practices listed above
that Comcast failed to inform their
clients of their network usage policies
and did so behind the customer’s back.
The FCC mandated that Comcast removed
this technology or practice within the
next few months giving internet users
clear and unfiltered access to the
internet through their services. Comcast
came back after the ruling and said that
they were obviously unhappy with the
ruling and that it would hurt them in
trying to comply with Federal law in
regards to music, video, and software
piracy that was happening multiple times
a day.
For consumers this is
actually a huge positive. For those of
you who don’t know, Comcast is one of,
if not the largest providers of cable
and broadband internet in the country.
Who is to know that Comcast was the only
company that has been watching and
ultimately cutting off or limiting
access to certain things over the
internet without their customer’s
knowledge? This is a clear message to
all other ISP’s or Internet Service
Providers in the United States that when
a customer pays for something they
should get what they paid for without
interference.
• •
• •
Comcast Fights Back: Now
Enforcing Rules that Will Hurt Internet
Users
By George Bardissi
So, what does all this
mean to you the consumer? Since the
Federal Communications Commission’s
ruling against Philadelphia based
Comcast Cable, things have potentially
taken a turn for the worse. Originally,
the whole point of the ruling was to
make sure Comcast was not unfairly
taking rights away from consumers by
limiting access to the internet without
letting consumers know or have a say in
the matter. Well hold on to your hats,
because Comcast is now fighting back on
two levels.
First, Comcast has filed
a law suit against the FCC claiming that
it’s practices were unreasonable under
the FCC network management rules and
also that the FCC has no authority to
enforce its network neutrality ruling or
principles on Comcast. Even though
Comcast has filed the paperwork on this
suit they still intend to follow through
with the removal of the “unfair” network
management ruling by the FCC, because
they feel so strongly against it.
Not soon after this whole
fiasco began, Comcast officially came
out with a new policy which will take
effect as of Oct 1, 2008. This policy
states that Comcast will monitor all
customers in terms of internet usage and
any clients who go above a 250 gigabyte
limit will first get a warning asking to
reduce their usage and then the next
time they will be cut off completely
from Comcast’s internet service.
According to Comcast this limit will
only affect less than 1 percent of
Comcast customers. However, I believe it
won’t stay that way for long.
First of all, I believe
this policy is a direct result of the
FCC ruling against Comcast. Secondly,
this limit is starting a trend that will
ultimately turn into common practice
with all Internet Service Providers and
this will effectively kill innovation on
the internet. Why such strong words?
Look at how things are progressing. We
already have VoIP or telephone over the
internet, radio over the internet, live
TV over the internet, hosted business
applications over the internet, email,
and the list is enormous. A lot of the
innovations have come within the last 2
to 3 years that are really taking the
power of the internet to a whole new
level. Now Comcast has effectively said,
we are cutting you off if you use one or
all of these items more than Comcast
feels is necessary!
Well excuse me; I didn’t
know that Comcast knew me and my
internet habits so well that they could
come up with such a limit that might
affect my day to day work and personal
computer usage. Now keep in mind that
Comcast is trying to stop an ever
growing, huge internet piracy ring that
is illegally downloading music, movies,
and software. However, with this new
policy coming into play all of us are
now being penalized for something many,
but not all of us are doing. I
personally hope that the FCC reviews
this situation and puts it under an
intense microscope with the eventual
conclusion that it is a bad thing, which
will prompt them to come against Comcast
and remove this restriction. In ending,
I must ask you to forgive me for the
final words of doom and gloom folks as I
must tell you it doesn’t look very good
moving forward and you should definitely
expect Comcast, in the future, to bill
you for over using your internet!
• •
• •
**READERS
FEED BACK**
Hi there,
I'm writing in response
to the whole Comcast issue that was
written about by George.
About 8 months ago my
Comcast service (internet) was not
working. I called Comcast up and was
referred to the safety and security
dept. of Comcast. After finally getting
a call back (3 days later) I was told
that my service was suspended due to
exceeding bandwidth usage. I asked them
what the limit was and they told me
there was no disclosed limit, but that I
had definitely over used my bandwidth
more then what a "normal" person would
use. They suggested that I upgrade to
a small business package which starts
out about $250 a month. I told them no
thank you; I'm already paying $39.99 a
month + $10 for what they call is a
"speed bump" for what I had thought was
"unlimited usage". They told me yes it
is unlimited, but I still can't overuse
my bandwidth. They made me wait a full
week before they returned my service and
everything has been fine up until last
Thursday.
Last Thursday I received
a message from Comcast on my voicemail
to call them because it was of "utmost
importance". So I called the # they
left and again was directed to the
safety and security dept. of Comcast. I
was told on the phone that I was being
given a warning for going over 250 GB
bandwidth limit for the month of August.
I made a comment to the gentleman on the
phone that the 250 GB limit was
not effective until Sept 1st at the
earliest. He told me that Comcast
finally disclosed the 250 GB limit on
Sept. 1st, and then he said although
Comcast never disclosed a number to the
public, nor to the people they suspended
( me included ) that 250 GB was always
the number they had in the back of their
minds. I tried to plead my case more,
basing it on unfairness and failure to
disclose an actual #. The "gentleman
told me "tough”, that's the way it is
and that's the way it’s going to be
until someone makes Comcast stop. I
know myself I can’t make Comcast stop
doing this, but until Verizon Fios is
available in my area I have to put up
with the crappy policies and crappy
attitudes from a crappy service
provider. So please if you have any
connections with Verizon, could you
please tell them to supply Bridesburg
(in Philly) with Fios, LOL.
Thanks for letting me
vent,
Michael Gray
• •
• •
**BARDISSI
BUSINESS**
Just a reminder, don’t
forget that Dell’s end of quarter is
coming up at the end of October. So, if
you’re in need of a new laptop or PC and
you want to get a great deal and save
money, then put this date on your
calendar and give us a call. We’ll save
you time, money and we’ll put the
perfect system together for you. Not to
mention Christmas is on its way!!
* *
* *
Keep those letters and
emails coming with questions and
requests about or for topics you liked
or would like discussed in our “Tech
Talk” newspaper column on the front page
of the business section in The Reporter
every Monday. We love your support and
will continue to provide you with a
comprehensive education on the ever
changing world of Information
Technology.
* *
* *
BARDISSI BUSINESS
SPOTLIGHT
This month’s spotlight is
on “Total Performance Automotive” of
Ambler, Pennsylvania, owned by Chris and
Lisa Serratore. There automotive shop
specializes in providing Superior
Collision Repairs, Meticulous
Restoration, Custom Paint, Graphics
and Auto Restyling, which are just a few
of the many services that they provide.
Chris and Lisa are,
without a doubt, the most skilled
surgeons when it comes to carrying out
the dictates of their business not to
mention, they are very honest and
ethical people as well. Their ability to
diagnosis and properly provide the
correct solution and materials, that
will restore your vehicle to its
original state, is the core of their
business as well as their exceptional
customer service.
We have had personal
experience with Total Performance
Automotive after having an accident.
When we called them, within fifteen
minutes they sent a tow truck, ordered a
rental car for us and coordinated
everything with our insurance company
and our agent. The whole process was
easy, seamless and spared us a lot of
the mental and emotional aggravation
that can occur after having an accident.
Another unique attribute
of Chris and Lisa’s business is that
they are educators in their particular
specialty, who are called on, by the
automobile insurance companies and the
industry to teach insurance agents and
appraisers the proper methods and
procedures that should be used in
dealing with accident claims and damage
appraisals.
Total Performance
Automotive is definitely a company whose
phone number you want to have on speed
dial. We urge you to stop in and pay
Chris & Lisa a visit, because you’ll
find them both very personable and
professional not to mention they are
just very cool, down to earth folks who
believe that the needs of the customer
always comes first.
Total Performance
Automotive is located at 250 Railroad
Avenue in Ambler and their phone number
is 215 628-3213.
“If you’re ever in a car
accident and your vehicle gets cracked a
bit, don’t despair remember Total
Performance Automotive will be right
there making your vehicle like new,
giving you peace of mind at a fair price
to”.
* *
* *
Bardissi Enterprises
welcomes the following businesses to our
growing list of Clientele:
Montgomery County
Sheriff’s Department – Norristown, PA
Connected Business
Solutions, Inc. – Langhorne, PA
Associated Spec
Consultants, Inc. – Limerick, PA
Cosmo Motors, MP&A, LLC –
Lansdale, PA
Awakenings Wellness
Center – Maple Glen, PA
Northwest Erectors, Inc.
– Ambler, PA
Nationwide Insurance,
Willie Manley Agency – Philadelphia, PA
Excel Homes – Camphill,
PA
