How does using file swapping software
or services put me at risk?
Applicability:
- Cable modem users, especially those with dedicated IP addresses.
- This does not really address legality nor copyright issues.
- Our focus here is providing a quality service at an affordable price.
Our Agreement (in part) Says:
5. GENERAL USE POLICIES
5.1. You have received a copy of the current policies, conditions,
prices, taxes and fees in effect. WesterNet may implement changes, additions or
deletions in the future. You will receive notice of such changes by e-mail
and/or regular mail and agree to be bound by them. Once you have been notified
of such changes, you agree that your continued use of the Service constitutes
your full acceptance.
5.2. You understand that temporary interruptions or delays may occur as
normal events and that we have no control over the networks, facilities and
services of third parties. Nevertheless, we will make reasonable efforts to
provide you with continuous, uninterrupted, expedient and error-free service.
5.3. You understand that the Internet is an open medium and access by
cable modem is via a public network. Accordingly, you agree that there is
little or no expectation of privacy or security. We may but need not monitor
the content on the Service and may disclose any information that we deem
necessary to comply with any law, regulation or order or to protect any other
entity. We may refuse to post or may remove any material or information that,
in our sole discretion, is unacceptable, undesirable or in violation of this
Agreement. We may suspend or terminate the Service or any portion, including
user ID, e-mail address, URL or domain name, if we deem that your use of the
Service:
(a) violates any law, regulation or tariff;
(b) is obscene, defamatory, deceptive or fraudulent;
(c) is intended to threaten, harass, intimidate or cajole;
(d) interferes with another subscriber's use or enjoyment of the
Service;
(e) is in any way inconsistent with our terms, policies and
conditions;
(f) tends to damage our name or reputation;
(g) involves your provision of FTP or Webserver capabilities or
otherwise places excessive demand on our Service;or
(h) in any way violates this Agreement. |
Want to See the
Math?
- One user with a Websurfer connection can pass 331,776,000,000
bits per month through the network. That is 41 gigabytes, or the equivalent of
the whole contents of a very large hard drive.
- Our service model figures that users will transfer as much as 3
to 6 gigabytes monthly surfing the net. Thus this bandwidth hog described above
is consuming 10x what is budgetted for him. And he's not even aware of it,
since these are external users visiting his machine. Obviously this will have
an effect on everyone's rates if not arrested.
- A full speed user has 10x the bandwidth of Websurfer,
aggravating the problems for network management.
- Most file sharing software reports how fast an intended target
can serve. This is misleading, since it doesn't indicate how many are using the
site. If 50 people are connected to a given user with a 128kbps connection,
each will get about 2kbps of transfer. This is about 1/5 the rate of a poor
quality dialup.
|
The Issues:
- File swapping, whether it be music, videos, or anything else, opens a
Pandora's box of
legal
issues. One concern is copyright.You might consider
security
too. But wait, there's more. Read about one college student's
law
enforcement woes. Read what Peter Chernin of media giant News Corp sees for
the future of
broadband if nothing is done to protect artistic rights. But these are not
our issues as your service provider.
- Our job is to manage the network you use. We buy access and
facilities in sufficient quantity for you to use. Simply said, we can't do that
if outsiders are coming into our system and taking files off your computer
freely. Thus under item 5.3.(g) we prohibit such activity. The reason is that
there is no way you can limit them coming in, short of leaving your machine
turned off. When your machine is on, it is offering all of your content to
anyone who is a member of your peer-based filesharing network.
- Does this apply to you? Definitely! One serving user with a cable
modem is able to saturate the network, since hundreds of simultaneous
connections can easily made from the outside world. If not stopped, not only
would this user's machine slow to a crawl, but also service for everyone would
be slowed.
- What will we do if you do this anyway? Per item 5.3, "we may suspend
or terminate the Service or any portion [thereof]..." And we will,
promptly.
See the Problem:
 |
GREEN is Incoming
Traffic from the Internet.
BLUE is
Traffic being sent to the Internet. |
In this graphical representation, you can see normal
traffic from a mid-Monday through Wednesday afternoon (in the middle of the
graph).
Normal websurfing is characterized by more traffic coming in
than is going out.
The high usages in BLUE are a result of fileswapping
software. Those represent outsiders clogging our network.
On this
Monday we curtailed one user completely. We limited another on Friday to a
lower upstream capacity.
|
 Don't be a
Bandwidth Hog ! |
The Solution:
- Contact us with what you want to do as soon as possible, so as not to
put your subscription at risk.
- We will respond with a custom solution that will handle your desires
at a reasonable price.
- If you do not want to pay to host your server locally, we will make a
recommendation for a host centrally located on the Internet. This is always
cheaper and faster for your intended customers. Keep in mind that whether you
are providing services for money or for free is not the issue with us. The
issue is 'serving', whereby you are providing content for others.
Our commitment is for all users to have a quality
Internet experience at a reasonable price.
©2002
WesterNet