Comcast’s Xfinity app for Xbox 360: a new battleground in net neutrality – The Verge

Comcast says its streaming TV service won’t count against data caps because it doesn’t use the internet

2015-11-21T17:15:02-05:00

Comcast internet subscribers shopping around for streaming video services are going to have a pretty convincing reason to opt for the company's own product, called Stream TV. That's because data used for the service won't count against subscribers' data caps, which start at 300GB per month. In addition, bandwidth used by the service won't impact your network speeds - Comcast will route Stream TV data over bandwidth you aren't paying for, so your internet speeds won't drop while you're watching TV. Needless to say, competing services like Netflix, PlayStation Vue, and Sling TV enjoy no such advantages.

Stream TV launched in its first markets …

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Time Warner Cable’s Xbox streaming app won’t count toward data caps

2013-08-28T09:35:04-04:00

Time Warner Cable logo (1020)

Time Warner Cable became the latest cable company to turn the Xbox 360 into a set-top box yesterday with the release of an app that lets its customers stream up to 300 live channels. It may have also became the latest cable provider to deliver that content in a way that might skirt around net neutrality rules: according to GigaOM, not a single bit of that data will count against TWC customers' data caps. TWC explained the decision to GigaOM, noting that the app "isn't an internet offering." That's nearly the exact argument that Comcast cited when it came under fire for applying the very same data policies for its TV-streaming Xfinity app for …

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DOJ probe investigates whether cable companies are unfairly capping online video

2012-06-13T01:03:56-04:00

comcast xfinity cable (stock)

When Comcast announced that its Xfinity app for Xbox 360 wouldn't count against its internet subscriber's data caps, it got an earful from net neutrality advocates, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and Senator Al Franken. Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Department of Justice has stepped in, investigating cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable, among others, to see if they're acting unfairly towards the online video services they host on their network. More specifically, the DOJ is investigating if Comcast's Xbox application violates antitrust agreements the company made when it took over NBCUniversal in 2011, the very …

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Comcast rejects claims of Xfinity app favoritism, says it complies with net neutrality

2012-05-15T17:59:40-04:00

Comcast sign

Comcast has responded to allegations that it privileges content for its Xfinity app for the Xbox 360 over competitors like Netflix, claiming that it does not prioritize its own content and that it is in compliance with the FCC's open internet principles. Comcast says that the Xbox 360 "essentially acts as an additional cable box for your existing cable service," and that it sends the content on a managed network that's separate from its traditional cable delivery service. The ISP says that it provides "separate, additional bandwidth flow into the home for the use of this service - above and beyond, and distinct from, the bandwidth a customer …

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Is Comcast prioritizing its Xfinity app over competitors like Netflix?

2012-05-15T12:27:06-04:00

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A detailed study from technical infrastructure expert Bryan Berg reveals that Comcast may be prioritizing traffic for its own Xfinity app for Xbox 360 over other services, like Netflix - which, if accurate, would be a bold deviation from the spirit of the FCC's net neutrality principles. This isn't the first time an issue has arisen with Comcast's Xfinity app, as the company's decision to exempt its app from bandwidth caps raised the eyebrows of net neutrality advocates, including Senator Al Franken (D-MN). But this latest accusation is much more serious than the bandwidth cap issue, since bandwidth prioritization could have a material impac …

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Senator Al Franken: Comcast Xfinity On Demand may violate net neutrality agreement

2012-05-07T15:53:01-04:00

via www.wired.com

Senator Al Franken has long been an outspoken supporter of network neutrality and an opponent of a 2010 joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, so it's not surprising that he's deeply concerned about Comcast's plan for Xfinity On Demand. In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice today, Franken urged both agencies to reexamine Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, citing a number of recent problems and complaints. Among them was the recent announcement that data sent through Xfinity's app on the Xbox 360 would not count towards bandwidth caps.

"Your agencies were keenly aware that Comc …

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Netflix CEO complains about Comcast’s data caps again: ‘In what way is this neutral?’

2012-04-16T00:18:05-04:00

hastings netflix

It's no secret Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings thinks Comcast's data caps are unfair. Last month he posted a message on Facebook complaining about how data used by Comcast's Xfinity app for the Xbox 360 doesn't count toward his monthly Comcast data cap, unlike competing service HBO Go. Now Hastings is back on Facebook (post below), saying essentially the same thing, only this time he's cutting straight to the net neutrality point.

It's unlikely that Comcast is going to stop being selective about its data caps just because of a couple of Facebook posts - it's going to take pressure from Washington, and Netflix recently established its Flixpac pu …

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Comcast’s Xbox 360 video service flies in the face of the FCC’s net neutrality efforts

2012-03-26T17:09:07-04:00

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"[Broadband internet providers] shall not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic over a consumer's broadband Internet access service." FCC 10-201, paragraph 68The FCC says that the "Open Internet" is open because "it treats all traffic that flows across the network in roughly the same way" - so Comcast's decision to privilege its Xfinity On Demand service for Xbox 360 with free data, while requiring other apps like Netflix and Hulu to count against customer data caps, would appear to directly violate the spirit of the FCC's net neutrality efforts. Comcast says that it can enjoy this privilege because "the service tr …

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Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand for Xbox 360 won’t count against subscribers’ bandwidth caps

2012-03-26T01:49:04-04:00

New Xbox TV Experience

A big part of Microsoft's major revamp of the Xbox 360 Dashboard late last year was lots of new video content, such as Verizon's FiOS TV, Vevo, and ESPN, but a few selections were going to be absent until early 2012. One of those was Comcast's Xfinity On Demand service, but an FAQ on the Xfinity site seems to indicate that it'll be launching sooner than later. The biggest item of note here for potential users of this service is the news that Comcast will not count streaming of Xfinity On Demand against users' bandwidth caps. As Comcast says on its site, "since the content is being delivered over our private IP network and not the public Inte …

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