Only connect (to Comcast)
What happens when the infrastructure of the net becomes oligopoly-controlled? Services become limited, prices go up. I’m hardly the first to point this out.
Larry Lessig wrote in his book The Future of Ideas about the possibility that given a few subtle changes to the Internet’s infrastructure it would be relatively easy for the cable companies or another small handful of telcos or other large businesses to take control of the Net, turning it into the kind of closed systems TV or the old telephone networks used to be. This dire prediction may be upon us.
Comcast has been progressively turning on functions to block VPN traffic for the last four or five months. If you fight through the Comcast site to find the terms of service you discover that’s only the beginning. Under their rules prohibiting you from using your Internet connection for ‘any business purpose’ you are arguably in violation if you so much as buy a book from Amazon.com.