"Thou shalt not run a server" is one of the restrictions associated with the flat-rate DSL service -- and now they're getting serious about enforcing it -- but is fair and what else might be affected?

First-up -- we all know that Telecom's DSL service is an extremely expensive (by world standards) service that suffers from some rather annoying technical problems right now. IDG have been like a pit-bull in following and exposing the existence, and Telecom's seeming reluctance to fix, a micro-outage problem that cynics like myself might consider to be simply a marketing ploy to force serious users onto more expensive data links.

And don't even get me started about how a hacker can send your JetStream bill through the roof simply by sending you data you didn't ask for and don't want.

But what about this lame restriction that JetStart users can't run servers on machines connected through this service?

What a crock!

For a start -- JetStart barely qualifies as a broadband service -- being capped at a rate which is little more than twice the speed of a dial-up modem on uncompressed data -- and potentially slower for highly compressible material (where modern dial-up modems can in theory provide throughputs approaching 200Kbps).

Readers Say (updated hourly) Telecom have it both ways... - Peter DSL pricing... - Simon Telecom Jet Stream... - Joe Telecom or Teleban... - Hank Coverage... - Ian P2P on Jetstart... - Ian From Yesterday... music and the industry... - Spiro Burn Baby Burn... - James So what's with Minidiscs?... - Dylan burning cd... - Nick the industry will get burnt... - James So all recording of songs is illegal?... - Malcolm How the music industry is screwing me... - Allister Any copying is illegal... - Edwin Have Your Say

Telecom seem to claim that it must prohibit JetStart users from running servers because such activity becomes too much of a drain on bandwidth. BZZZT -- wrong answer!

Guess who controls the bandwidth? Yes -- Telecom.

Given the pitiful uptake of DSL in NZ (compared to other pacific-rim countries such as Singapore and Korea) -- I'd be very surprised to learn that the handful of Jetstart customers are producing unfixable congestion.

No, Telecom seem to be playing the same old bait and switch game designed to squeeze customers into more expensive options.

"Hey, you want flat-rate DSL? -- get our JetStart"

"Oh, what's that, you've got JetStart but you want to run P2P file-sharing? You need to step UP to our JetStream product"

"Oh, what's that, you're having trouble with micro-outages? You need one of our DDS or Frame Relay connections..."

Get the picture?

Remember -- it was only a few years ago that Telecom was telling the world about this great new fibre-optic Southern Cross cable that had so much bandwidth you could send a full-length motion picture around the world in the blink of an eye.

What they failed to tell us, it would seem, is that only those who are rich or stupid are allowed to enjoy unfettered fast Net access.

According to today's IDG story, Telecom claims that "uploading large amounts of traffic is causing the problems that some JetStart users are reporting." Well if this is the case -- how will shifting them to the more expensive JetStream service fix such problems? Are Telecom asking us to believe that the two products use different networks?

As far as I'm aware -- JetStart and JetStream share the same basic infrastructure -- so what Telecom are really saying is "if we force these users to a non-flat-rate service we can make a heap more money out of them."

Couldn't they effectively control the problem by using asymetric data rates and limiting the outbound stream to 33.6Kbps just like a dial-up modem? If they did this then a JetStart user would represent no more of a bandwidth burden than any other computer running P2P over dialup.

Or could it be that even dial-up users of Telecom's XTRA service may soon find themselves banned from using P2P file-trading software too?

However, all this talk about running servers and P2P file sharing has little relevance to your average JetStart user does it?

Well don't be too sure about that.

The contract actually says "You must not run servers, use static IP addresses or provide public information service via a computer connected via this plan."

So -- are other P2P services such as instant messaging also forbidden?

And what if you provide free information and advice by email to others who might perhaps share your own hobbies or interests? Isn't that a "public information service"?

How long before the bean-counters start clamping down on these apparently forbidden uses of JetStart too?

Of course if I were really drawing a long bow -- I'd wonder whether perhaps the recording industry and Telecom weren't getting into bed together to stifle affordable access to P2P services such as KaZa and Morpheus from this part of the world.

Meanwhile, affordable, flat-rate broadband access remains an illusion to the vast majority of NZers. So much for advancing our knowledge economy eh?

Usenet Archives Online
Those of us who were active Internet users long before it was fashionable can now take a nostalgia trip thanks to Google.

The search engine has put a huge wad of old usenet postings online as part of the service offered through its groups.google.com website.

I suspect they'll be getting huge numbers of requests for postings to be removed right now -- as some people's past comes back to haunt them ;-)

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