What’s An Acceptable ‘Acceptable Use’ Policy?

What’s an acceptable use of the Internet connection you use and pay for every month?

Perhaps you never thought about it before. But with Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), in the name of network bandwidth management, “updating” theirs effective October 1, you may want to  whether you’re a customer of the cableco or not.

What we’ve thought of as unlimited now has limits.

While you may not ever get caught retuning over and over to the unlimited brunch buffet, blowing Comcast’s 250 gigabytes a month of usage will likely get you a phone call on the first offense. Two violations in a six-month period and you’re likely cut off for a year.

Is that really going to be acceptable to Internet users in principle or in practice? You decide.

The change is supposed to reign in a small group of people who use an inordinate amount of local Internet bandwidth. While you might not buy that premise, you’re already paying monthly for your connection.

I have no real idea how much usage this constitutes, whether for an individual or a household. But even having to think about it is likely to have a chilling affect on users when they receive their new Acceptable Use Policy.

AT&T Inc. (T) also has announced plans for floors and ceilings on Internet connections that redo their customers’ policies, so this is far from a one-operator phenomenon.

And with more companies and states going to shorter work weeks and more folks working from home, it stands to reason that folks are spending an increasing amount of time online, and not just to check and return e-mail.

What worries me most going forward is whether or not ISPs are going to ask my permission, and rewrite policies accordingly, if they can use my usage data to expose me to more “targeted” ads.

As has been said a kajillion times ... information is power. That applies to online marketing and advertising too. ISPs realize it. Just like telemarketers did once the Do Not Call list was created.

But asking and keeping track of opt-ins and opt-outs would seem to be a huge and daunting task for ISPs, so I would certainly predict challenges here on multiple fronts.

Sounds like it’s time to talk about much more than Internet bandwidth limits, and hopefully well before Acceptable Use Policies get larger than owners’ manuals folks never read through, possibly because the print is too small for insects and is written as clearly as mud.

Speak now. There’s plenty of reason to fear change.

Related Article:

Comcast Details “Updated” Acceptable Use Policy

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