AT&T Gearing Up for Network Filtering

The biggest roadblock to linux is it's application development nobody's doing linux apps games or otherwise the only reason why it's survived so long is that it's the backbone to the internet Ubuntu's making a great showing as to what can be done with open source and their usability is right up there beside Windows save for the sudo debian strings required to actually install anything properly. The roadblock is trying to make it so that windows programs natively run on a unix system that's no easy task so far they can only emulate a windows box with wine and even then it's spotty at best the only way I can see it operating natively is if you have two different OS interpreters for programs it would be a very ugly baby having a unix core and a windows core side by side and you would have to define what programs operate in what shell but that's probably the only way you'll ever get a unix box to even remotely come close to running a windows native app. Unix is a good system but requires that the users are more tech savvy than most of the unwashed public and it doesn't run everybody's favorite apps like windows does...

You know what I actually would like to see Microsoft making it impossible to pirate Windows. Why? Well think about it. How many people do you know that have a legitimate copy? If you can't pirate Windows this will drive people to alternatives like Linux. More Linux users then people will expect more Linux apps. Then people will want it in their workplace as they become used to it. If M$ stop piracy I think this will slowly kill off Windows. Which is a good thing and would send a message to corporates out there.

They make those claims to scare the ISPs and lower Government officials into thinking that they're on the verge of an economic collapse when in reality they're doing business as usual except now bootlegging's done online rather than from the back end of a hatchback. You know what's the craziest part though it's the people WITH money that pirate the most my flipping boss hasn't got a legit prog on his computer save MAYBE windows and he's a frakking multi-millionaire he can actually afford to buy all the crap but doesn't want to be bothered because it takes more money from him. It's just sick I tell you those that can't afford it are being grilled and hung out to dry while those with the money can get away with just about any crime they so please as long as they keep it 'hush hush'

I never understand these claims that if bandwidth is throttled to stop file sharing people wont use broadband anymore. Heres a few reasons why loads of people would still want broadband. 1. People who play online games 2. People who download porn from sites they're subscribed to Probably some other things. I dont know why people even care about this. I rarely use p2p anymore. I have all the games porn and "appz" (people still say that?) and music to last me a lifetime. I dont need any more.

dont they have enough money already to make more from bugging the customers? in the end we will win since we are paying them and we are making them rich M$ is just gettin on my nerves now everyday i hear more sh!t from them and its starting to annoy not only me but many other people. now my question is: what illegal our piracy or them messing with our traffic??? its just not gonna work and if it does then they are gonna loose lots of customers.

Damnation don't these presumptuous gits know the more they push the harder the opposing side's gonna push back? I don't think that in the long run M$ is being hurt to bloody badly by piracy yes it's loosing at MOST 10% of it's sales and that's a very wide suggestion at the same time those that do pirate M$ or other's software don't update they don't pull in the services because they don't know what's hidden in the software or if they might try to slip in some form of check validation leaving them exposed to some of the more oft found loopholes and exploits in the programs. AT&T is looking after corporate interests before it's own clients you'd have to be a fool to think that there wasn't some money greasing the wheels here but how much is completely unknown however it is a risky gambit for AT&T if the unwashed masses of the areas running AT&T know about this there's likely to be an outcry. Suggestion: Wherever AT&T Broadband is sold in America people should print off this article and put it on lightposts here and there in major population centers make sure they know what their big brother is up to all you need is a half an hour to an hour of time and a few rolls of dollar store packing tape wrap full circle around the poster and lightpost and cover the entire poster I have posters around town here that are still in place using that method 2 years after I put them up.

Gamer8585 theres always a way around traffic shaping the major one being encryption. No one is going to scan an encrypted packet to see if its infringing on a copyright its far too taxing. So you can be reassured that theres always a way around these idiots attempts. Sadly it seem that Microsoft with the help of other big names would like to lock down computers themselves. Hopefully that reality never comes into play. Trusted computing is far more dangerous then traffic shaping ever will be.

I think you might be missing the the problem in all this consumer choices for broadband ISPs are very limited. In my area there is only the choice between Comcast and AT&T. If AT&T starts filtering traffic where would I go? AFAIK this kind of limit is in most communities though out the country. The startup costs are prohibitively high so a startup isn't likely to emerge too soon. I'm afraid unless we get strong Privacy Protection and Net Neutrality laws this shit is going to continue. Lets execute a few CEO's nothing says "straighten up and fly right" like a bloody head on a pike.

It's That time of Year when Big Corporations look for Federal Money Handouts This is just a ploy to get some development money from the Democrats to protect Their RIAA Buddies. once They have it It will be spent on other Things. AT&T isn't going to bite the Hand that feeds Them. DSL Sales = Dollars !

Actually someone over at slashdot made a good analogy . No one would dream of suggesting that the postal service should start opening people's mail to see if there's something illegal inside. If it's not right in the analog world it's not right in the digital world either.

Mr. Cicconi has had his pockets filled from the RIAA and MPAA guys. He's been sold off. Typical thief that he is. This won't work anyway. It will only stop the jones's from copyright inrfingment. Peopl in the know will always get around these lame attempts to stop it.