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Putin calls US troops in Poland ‘a threat’

Friday, January 13, 2017

Reports yesterday indicated Russian President Vladimir Putin views the arrival of US troops in Poland as “a threat”.

Earlier this week around a quarter of 4,000 troops earmarked for Poland crossed into Poland from Germany. Also included were trucks, tanks, and Humvees. Many are set to be based in ?aga?, where Polish Prime Minister Beata Szyd?o and Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz are scheduled to ceremonially welcome them tomorrow.

Part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the deployment is set to include Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Paladin artillery. It is the largest deployment of US troops to Europe since the Cold War ended. The presence of US assets “threatens our interests and our security,” according to Putin. “It’s a third country that is building up its military presence on our borders in Europe,” he told the BBC. “It isn’t even a European country.”

Outgoing US President Barack Obama authorised the move in response to Russian intervention in Ukraine in 2014, in which Crimea was annexed. It was agreed at a NATO summit in Warsaw last year. Tomasz Szatkowski, Polish Undersecretary of State for Defence, noted “large exercises” by Russia near the Polish border as another reason the troops were needed.

Szatkowski also mentioned Russian action in Ukraine, which he called “aggressive actions in our vicinity”. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Mechkov, however, said the incoming troops and vehicles were a “factor destabilising European security”. Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov echoed Putin, saying the troops are “a threat. These actions threaten our interests, our security. Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders. It’s [the US], not even a European state.”

Ties between Russia and the US are strained. Last month the US expelled 35 Russian diplomats accused of espionage, and sanctioned Russian intelligence agencies. This was in response to a CIA report issued two weeks earlier that concluded the Russian government hacked servers belonging to the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties. The CIA report said this was to turn the 2016 presidential election toward president-elect Donald Trump.

Since Szyd?o took office in 2015, Poland has also suffered a decline in relations with Russia. Within a week of the Law and Justice Party coming to power in Poland, it removed web pages featuring the results of an investigation into the Smolensk air disaster in Russia in 2010. The cause of the crash, which killed dignitaries including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, is disputed.

A Polish probe concluded the Polish pilots put safety second in their determination to get their passengers through dense fog. It also placed blame on Russian controllers for failing to divert the aircraft. Russian investigators blamed the pilots alone. The flight was carrying high-profile political figures to attend a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when thousands of Polish prisoners of war and civilians were killed by the Soviets.

Russia has refused to return wreckage, encouraging conspiracy theories about the crash. In 2015 Szyd?o said in response to the vanishing investigatory findings “the website has been closed and will simply remain closed.”

In recent months tension has mounted further as Russia deployed missiles to Kalingrad. The enclave, Russian territory lying between Poland and Lithuania, now has nuclear-capable Iskanders and anti-ship Bastion equipment. NATO considered these deployments a response to its own.

The US troops are set to rotate around the Balkans every nine months. Other planned host nations are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The rotation is due to a treaty with Russia preventing permanent deployment to any particular territory.

Russia-US relations face a potential thaw, as President-Elect Donald Trump moves towards office on January 20. Trump has made clear he intends to seek a closer relationship with Russia. Rex Tillerson, proposed Secretary of State for the Trump administration, implied the troops would be staying put. He said Russia had claimed Crimea “as an act of force” requiring the US to offer “a proportional show of force”.

Trump’s proposed Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, backed NATO before the US Senate yesterday. He said Putin aimed to weaken the NATO alliance. Witold Waszczykowski, Polish foreign minister, earlier this week remarked any improvement in US-Russia relations should avoid harming Polish interests.

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Canadian province receives warning from Exxon

Thursday, September 13, 2007

ExxonMobil Corp. chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson has warned residents of Alberta, Canada that they risk endangering investment and growth of the province if they change the royalty scheme to increase revenue returned to the province from its oil sands.

Currently, oil companies pay a one per cent royalty on their revenues until their initial investment is paid off, when the royalty is then increased to 25 percent of revenues. Alberta received CA$14 billion in oil sands revenue the last fiscal year.

Described as one of the most powerful oilmen in the world, Tillerson made it clear that should the province of Alberta seek a larger portion of the profits, Alberta could suffer a decrease in economic growth. Tillerson suggests that royalties represent interventionist policies similar to those associated with the (much maligned in Alberta) National Energy Program. In contrast to the warning from Tillerson, CIBC World Markets recently released a report stating that the oil sands are one of the few petroleum resources that can be “expanded significantly” and will be an increasingly important source for future demand.

The statement comes at a time where a large and growing number of Albertans associate the province’s economic growth with high inflation, housing shortages and a strain on schools and infrastructure. A report on recommendations to the scheme was scheduled to be released September 12, but was delayed until September 16 to verify data.

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Warren Buffett to host world’s most expensive lunch

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Billionaire Warren Buffett, Chief Executive of Berkshire Hathaway, auctioned lunch with himself on eBay for US$2.63 million.

Bidding, which started on eBay a few weeks ago, attracted nine bidders, offering huge sums for the opportunity to have a steak lunch with the man said to be a “legendary investor”.

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The winning bidder, an anonymous individual, will be parting with $2.63 million for a meal with the world-famed investor and has the opportunity to bring along seven friends for the meal.

This, the latest of Buffett’s charity auctions, is providing funds to the Glide Foundation, a charity that provides food, health care, housing and job training for San Francisco’s homeless.

Over the last ten years, Buffett has netted $5.9 million in donations through such auctions.

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Recruitment

Interactive Web Based Training A Case Study

Interactive Web Based Training – a case study

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SmallBusinessWebHosting

With the constantly changing economy, it’s hard to judge from day to day how much or even if you should invest in training. Even through you know that training improves productivity, morale and retention of the key employees.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWqT8Rljt_8[/youtube]

Training is expensive and it is an investment in your most precious resource, your employees. Training can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year per employee. How you may ask? Well consider these associated costs. Besides the actual cost of training itself, you have the normal travel, meals, lodging and phone expenses, which in itself can become quite expensive and is often a reason not to send someone to training. But you also have what are called lost opportunity cost, the cost of not being able to do business as normal when a key employee is away for training. Putting projects on hold or not accepting any new projects, overtime, additional temporary manpower that needs training so they can cover while the employee is away for training and overtime when the employee comes back so that he or she can catch up on everything that was missed while they were gone. Now add the cost of high turn over due to lack of advancement, poor job satisfaction, poor morale, money, and very little training, that training you did manage to get into the budget, leaves when the employee leaves. Some company’s try to manage this with contracts and other requirements but you still lose out with reduced productivity, travel and lost opportunity cost. What is the result of all of this? Less money spent on training, less productivity, higher payroll, lower morale and even higher turnover which results in more money spent on recruiting. Not to mention reducing the incoming business so that you can handle the current jobs with the workforce you have. So what are you suppose to do? Budgets and personnel shortages won’t allow you to train everyone. Timing issues related to training itself can take months, even if you have the budget, to arrange and get the people trained. You still need to service your customers and look for new business. The answer lies in finding training that is inexpensive, requires no travel, can be scheduled around your needs and uses a method that everyone can learn from. I know this may sound like Web Based Training and in fact it is close, it is called Interactive Web Based Training (IWBT). Training can be broken down into interactive and non-interactive. Non-interactive are things like books, CBT, WBT, audio and video tape course. The employee has to be very highly motivated to complete these and the emphasis is on the employee to research answer to things they don’t understand. It is cheaper, and meets the requirements of no travel and scheduling, but not everyone is motivate nor can they learn from this method. Many people do not learn well without interaction with a group or at least the instructor. Interactive learning requires someone to teach others. Things like classroom training, on the job training and mentoring are good examples of interactive learning. Interactive learning is expensive. It requires time and resources of multiple people, possible travel, scheduling and a high chance of lost opportunity cost. However, everyone learns better this way and they do not need to be as motivated to learn as with non-interactive learning. Training usually occurs at a preset place and time with someone ‘feeding’ them the information. Interactive training also involves more of the senses such as sound, sight, touch and smell, so people retain more of the information than if they just read a book or complete a CBT/WBT course. How is IWBT the answer? IWBT is instructor led training (interactive learning) conducted in a virtual classroom (VC) instead of a physical classroom. Using a VC we can perform most of the functions that are used in the classroom, including whiteboards, presentations, videos, demonstrations, questions and answers, and group interaction. In addition, VC usually have a better support structure to aid in retaining and learning after the class is over. These may include, email, recorded sessions, bulletin boards and chat rooms, all designed to help the students retain and continue the learning process after class. I think the recorded session are of the greatest value. These sessions are a streaming video capture of what went on in the VC during the class. All voice, text, presentations and video are captured and stored on a server so that the student can review the class at anytime. Making it a great way to review just prior to having to use a new feature or function that was taught but not implemented right away at work or for a client. These recorded sessions can also be used to teach others that may not have been able to attend the class and to reinforce other non-interactive learning methods. From the instructor stand point VC also offer a greater range of questioning technique which allow me to see how all students are doing not just those that like to answer questions. For example, in a classroom, once a question has been answered correctly, I have no way of checking to see if everyone really knew the answer. In a VC, each student answers via a response box that only I can see who answered what. That way each student answer is recorded and the instructor knows whether they can move on or really need to cover the subject in more detail before moving on. This is also a great tool. IWBT also is usually cheaper, easier to schedule, has neither associated travel cost nor does it have the associated lost opportunity cost that standard interactive learning does. Part of the savings in cost also comes from the fact that IWBT does not require a physical classroom or student equipment to maintain. IWBT also allows for better utilization of the instructors time. Technical experts are expensive, easily costing thousands of dollars a day. And they are limited by the physical size of the classroom and their ability to control the number of students they can teach at one time. This cost is part of why instructor led training is so expensive. IWBT has no real limit on the number of students, no physical limits on the classroom size, no travel cost for the instructor and no equipment overhead to pay for. Students in an IWBT course can come from anywhere. I have had students from Austria, Japan, India, France, Russia, Brazil and Canada in my classes. As you can see IWBT can offer some valid benefits for your organization, less expensive, no lost opportunity cost, better morale, no travel, better learning environment, better retention and learning capabilities, easier scheduling, and follow-on support not found in most interactive learning situations. I have been teaching IWBT classes for several years now. I have taught courses on computer hardware installation and troubleshooting, programming, operations, administration, networking, security, and business management. Currently I am working with Compass Technologies, Inc of Exton, PA. Compass Technologies is an access control manufacturer who markets a product that incorporates both hardware and software. They market the Compass 5E and SafeAxis products through business partners around the country. This is an ideal case study for IWBT. Compass has a large number of widely dispersed business partners that have a high turnover of employees, using a fairly technical set of hardware and software that integrates with computer networks. Traditional interactive training is very expensive and not being utilized to it fullest extent because of the cost involved for the business partners, even though Compass keeps the cost of the courses low. Compass wants to increase the training effectiveness, reduce cost and get more people trained which will reduce the amount of support required and improve customer satisfaction for the business partners. To accomplish this they are implementing a IWBT solution from EDT Learning called iLinc. Once iLinc is fully operational, it will allow their business partners to choose training via instructor led classroom training, instructor led web based training, web based training and via a set streaming videos. Courses being offered via IWBT include the standard classroom courses in installation and operations of both the SafeAxis and Compass 5E products, Using the Windows Operating System, Using the Linux Operating System, and an Advance System Design and Troubleshooting course for the security architect at the business partners. The iLinc product also offers a virtual meeting room capabilities that Compass and it’s business partners can use to announce the rollout of new products or meet with the executives to discuss business issues. Compass can also use these meeting rooms to meet with the national sales representatives, saving thousands of dollars in travel and lost sales time. Support will also benefit from the IWBT. iLinc provides Compass with the ability to take control (with the users permission) the computer that the student is using or to allow the student to take control of the supports machine to assist in troubleshooting a problem. This means that Compass Technical Support will be able to watch the steps, and messages that appear on the clients PC greatly reducing the amount of time required to identify and correct a problem, providing of course that the client has Internet connectivity at that time. Compass is also using IWBT to help train the business partner’s clients. They will have streaming video segments of different features and how to use them for the Compass products. These video segments will be downloadable by the clients so that they can better understand the features of the Compass products. Reducing the support and training requirements for the business partners and increasing the value of selecting Compass products for the customers. When everything is up and operational, Compass hopes to improve business partner and customer satisfaction, improve awareness of the products and capabilities, reduce the cost of supporting both business partners and clients and improve the effectiveness of the over all training program and it’s utilization. I think you can too. IWBT is a great way to improve your training regardless of the size of the organization.

Raymond Laubert an MCSE, MCDBA, MCT and owner of RSL-Webdesign.com and RD-Webhosting.com. He specializes in small business services with his web site services and training expertise. He can be reached at ray@rsl-webdesign.com.

http://www.rsl-webdesign.com http://www.rd-webhosting.com

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Interactive Web Based Training – a case study

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US president Obama, Congress call for blocking of executive bonuses at AIG insurance company

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

United States President Barack Obama stated Monday that insurance giant AIG is in financial trouble due to “recklessness and greed,” and called for legal action to stop the company from giving out millions of dollars in bonuses to its executives.

“It’s hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay,” Obama said. “How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat.”

Obama’s statement comes after reports surfaced last weekend saying the insurance agency, which is in deep financial trouble, had paid US$165 million to executives in bonuses, after receiving $170 billion as part of a government bailout plan.

AIG has said that the bonuses have to be given out, as the company is legally required by contract to do so. A representative with the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, also said that the bonuses were required to be given out. If AIG had refused to give out the bonuses, employees could file a lawsuit against the company for the money.

“We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses — which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury,” AIG CEO Edward M. Liddy said in a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Saturday.

Liddy said that he asked Geithner “to use that leverage and pursue every legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole.”

“I want everybody to be clear that Secretary Geithner’s been on the case,” Obama said. “He’s working to resolve this matter with the new CEO, Edward Liddy, who, by the way, everybody needs to understand, came on board after the contracts that led to these bonuses were agreed to last year.”

If the bonuses cannot be stopped, the U.S. Congress says they want AIG to reimburse the government. Congress is looking to impose stiff new taxes on the pay, or ordering the company to return the money which was originally granted from a government bailout. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday, senator Richard Shelby promised that the treasury will recover all of the money. Several U.S. senators along with Liddy have sent letters to AIG asking for the bonuses to be renegotiated, something AIG agreed to and says they will reduce future bonuses by 30%. Senators state that if Libby does not respond by renegotiating the bonuses, the Senate Finance Committee will propose an excise tax. Not only will an excise tax be proposed on AIG, but all companies receiving bailout money and their employees who receive bonuses.

What is the highest excise tax we can impose that will stand up in court? Let’s find out.

Numerous House Democrats have introduced legislation which would place a 100% tax on any bonuses of over $100,000 from companies that are receiving government bailout funds. Meanwhile in the Senate, a bipartisan proposal by Max Baucus (D-Montana) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) would levy a special 90% excise tax on AIG’s bonuses. Asked Senator Baucus, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee: “What is the highest excise tax we can impose that will stand up in court? Let’s find out.”

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Ontario Votes 2007: Interview with Green Party candidate Cecile Willert, Ajax—Pickering

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Cecile Willert is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Ajax—Pickering riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

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Ontario college teachers begin strike

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

All across the Canadian province of Ontario, college teachers have gone on strike, leaving more than 150,000 students in 24 colleges without classes.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union rejected the final offer from college management, after negotiations at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto.

This strike comes just a month before many student’s scheduled graduations. If courses are extended into the summer, to compensate for lost school time, students’ ability to maintain jobs to pay for their education would be severely limited.

“A prolonged strike would not only affect college students, but also have a ripple affect on the Ontario economy and workforce. Potential employers are expecting 44,000 new graduates and 100,000 returning students to enter the workforce this May, families have made summer plans, and some seasonal businesses may experience a significant loss if the school year does not finish on time,” says Tyler Charlebois, Director of Advocacy for the College Student Alliance. “I hope for the sake of Ontario, the provincial government takes this situation as seriously as we are and takes action as necessary.”

OPSEU was asking for more teachers, smaller classes, and more faculty time for students. A strike vote was 80.4% in favour of action. Humber had the least support for the strike, with only 67.0%, followed by St. Lawrence with 67.7%. St. Clair, Boréal, Centennial, and Sault all had more than 90% support.

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Civil Excavation And Demolition Services

Car Loans Ottawa

Car Loans Ottawa by Margaret Ogle But the finance minister did not look as anxious about lending for vehicles. Whereas the federal government has a hand in insuring mortgages through the Canada Home loan and Housing Company, it does not have any these kinds of part for auto lending.We really do not insure car loans, Flaherty said in March.The briefing notes provided to Flaherty previous fall highlighted some of the quantities calculated by J.D. Energy & Associates.Finance officials also delivered a few of preliminary conclusions, such as there has been a clear shift in car financing, and that vehicle financial loans with for a longer time amortization periods have captivated buyers who once leased cars and are looking for decrease regular monthly payments.There is no sign from the documents what actions, if any, the government might consider. Massive parts of the briefing notes are blacked out, which includes a part titled next methods.The federal govt has limited regulatory energy above motor vehicle funding. Federally regulated financial establishments are not permitted to offer you lease financing for autos under 21 tonnes, suggests Finance Canada.For car financing, banking institutions can supply loans for automobile purchases, but loan goods are also presented by provincially regulated financial institutions and other businesses.Finance Canada notes that all round customer credit history growth has moderated notably over the previous 3 many years, and that combination home financial debt-to-revenue ratio has declined for the very last two quarters.This is a distinct sign that Canadians are using the necessary measures to properly deal with their credit card debt. The government carries on to monitor the scenario with regard to general family financial debt, explained Finance Canada spokesman David Barnabe.The files provided to Flaherty point out how the government beforehand took motion to restore liquidity to the asset-backed financing sector with the rollout of the Canadian Secured Credit score Facility.The CSCF, launched in 2009 amid the economic disaster, was to purchase up to $12 billion of phrase asset-backed securities backed by financial loans and leases on cars and tools.The federal software was designed to stimulate economic action by supporting vehicle and products income in Canada and increase marketplace self-confidence for automobile and equipment financing.jfekete@postmedia.comTwitter.com/jasonfeketeOf the Canadians who finance their new car acquisitions, the share of transactions with funding conditions of seventy two months or more:2013 (up to finish of June): 63 per cent2012: fifty seven for every cent2011: 49 for each cent2010: 37 for every cent2009: 36 per cent2008: 34 for every cent2007: fourteen for every centKind of new car income in Canada:2008:cash 22 per centfinance forty six per centlease 33 for every cent2009:money thirty per centfinance fifty five for every centlease fifteen per cent2010:funds 23 per centfinance sixty three per centlease 14 per cent2011:money 23 for every centfinance fifty nine per centlease 18 per cent2012:funds 22 for every centfinance 61 per centlease eighteen per cent2013 (up to finish of June):income 18 for every centIf you spend the time needed to fully understand Used Car Dealers Ottawa, you could figure out what ought to be done. You’ll have certain results as a result of your efforts – this is how you will assess what you’ve accomplished. Among the best places to go for information on Car Finance Ottawa is to take a look at Car Finance Ottawa – it’s got quite a bit of information about this subject matter for every person to read.Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE02TxLlRQU[/youtube]
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Kenyan conservancy euthanises last male northern white rhino; only two females remain

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Yesterday, Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy announced they had euthanised the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, on Monday, after consulting with wildlife officials. Sudan was 45-years-old, and now only two northern white rhinos, both female and descendants of Sudan, remain.

“Sudan was being treated for age-related complications that led to degenerative changes in muscles and bones combined with extensive skin wounds”, the conservancy said. “His condition worsened significantly in the last 24 hours; he was unable to stand up and was suffering a great deal”, they added.

Sudan, who was born in the early 1970s, suffered a wound in his right hind leg in late February. He was born in South Sudan, and at that time around 700 northern white rhinos were alive.

Sudan was in captivity for the last 38 years. Earlier, he was kept at the Dv?r Králové Zoo in Czech Republic before he was moved to Kenya. He stayed in a 90 thousand acre (about 140 square mile, 364 square kilometre) reserve with the only two remaining female northern white rhinos, 27-year-old Najin and seventeen-year-old Fatu. Najin and Fatu are Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively.

Ol Pejeta said they collected Sudan’s genetic material on Monday. The conservancy said, “The only hope for the preservation of the subspecies now lies in developing in-vitro fertilisation techniques using eggs from the two remaining females, stored northern white rhino semen from males and surrogate southern white rhino females.”

Last year, an account was opened on dating platform Tinder on Sudan’s behalf, to raise money for a fertility treatment after attempts at natural mating proved futile. Suni, second to last male of the subspecies, died four years ago, in October 2014 in San Diego Zoo, US. He was 42.

Ol Pejeta’s CEO, Richard Vigne, said Sudan “was a great ambassador for his species and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness globally on the plight facing not only rhinos, but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unstable human activity”.

In 2008, the World Wildlife Foundation declared northern white rhinos extinct in the wild.

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U.S. ISPs to test restricting heavy Internet users

Thursday, June 5, 2008

On June 3rd, 2008, two United States Internet service providers (ISPs) announced they would begin tests to slow web access for their most active customers and charge them for extra speed. Comcast and Time Warner Cable, two of the largest ISPs in North America, both made separate announcements of their plans. The actions come in the wake of an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), over whether Comcast had restricted some customers from sharing videos, music, and similar files. The FCC investigation led to a US Congress debate over whether and how much control ISPs should have over the flow of customer data.

Public interest groups complained in November 2007 to the FCC that Comcast had specifically targeted customers using applications that made use of the BitTorrent system, a popular form of file sharing. Free Press, an advocacy group that pushes for better oversight of cable operators such as Comcast, stated that Comcast practices were discriminatory towards users of the legal technology. “The cable companies see a hammer hovering above their heads and are scrambling to find ways to reduce the appearance of wrongdoing,” said Ben Scott, head of the group.

According to Roger Entner, a senior vice president from Nielsen IAG, as little as 5 percent of all Internet users may consume as much as 50 percent of all the bandwidth on the Internet. “This is the politically correct version of doing what Comcast had been doing before, though it takes the occasional [peer-to-peer] user off the hook,” Entner said. Sena Fitzmaurice, a Comcast spokesperson, said, “This says we won’t be looking at what type of traffic that there is, even though we still need to manage the network.”

Comcast’s tests are expected to begin in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and Warrenton, Virginia.

While Comcast will attempt to throttle the speed of all its high-volume users, Time Warner Cable intends to use a different method. They will meter and bill clients, charging more money for faster speeds and larger amounts of transmitted data, functioning more like a traditional public utility, such as an electric company or cell phone service. Their metered billing test will begin on June 5 in Beaumont, Texas for newly enrolled customers. “Instead of raising prices across the board, consumers who are excessive users would pay,” said Alex Dudley, a Time Warner Cable spokesman. “It is clearly the fairest way to fund the investment that is going to be required to support that use.”

An Associated Press report that Time Warner Cable will bill customers between $29.95 to $54.90USD per month has been confirmed by the cable operator, with clients charged an extra $1 for each gigabyte (GB) by which they exceed their purchased plan. Art Brodsky, communications director of Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group in Washington D.C., has expressed concerns about the Time Warner Cable plan. Time Warner Cable’s most expensive offering, $54.90, comes with 15 megabits-per-second of data transfer speed and a 40 gigabyte limit on total data transfer.

“An HD (high-definition) movie is 8GB or so, three movies is more than half your allowance for a month, and heaven knows what else you might want to watch,” Brodsky says. “This is not a relieving congestion scheme as much as it is a rationing scheme. All it does is protect an inadequate infrastructure from the cable company.”

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