Part II of II

In part I I wrote about the safety, and sometimes the lack there of, when we are online. Since most ISP's don't provide adequate security then who can we trust? Just when there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel one provider stands out from the rest. Hughesnet, formerly known as DirecWay, protects its consumers in ways no other provider can. Hughes Network Systems is the global leader in the commercial transmission of data via satellite. They also contract with the U.S. military to connect our armed forces around the world. As you can imagine, the data being transmitted is of the most sensitive in nature and security is not a luxury but a necessity and to date the encryption has never been compromised. Hughes Network Systems owns this technology and extends its military-grade encryption algorithm to its residential customers at no additional charge. In fact, the basic residential system has the exact same hardware that is installed in the White House.

I will say that name recognition does play a role in my decisions when choosing products and services, and Hughesnet is not a name you see on billboards or in magazines. It may surprise you to know just how many times you have already used their services and not even known it. Ever shopped at Wal-Mart, ordered pizza from Pizza Hut or even used your credit card to pay for gas? All these establishments, just to name a few, are transmitting your data across the Hughes network and doing so at the speed of light. The Walton family, with over 3,800 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. alone, actually attributes their success to the services they received from Hughes.

With their prices for high-speed Internet starting at $59, they position themselves way above the entry-level high-speed Internet packages. However, we have to ask ourselves two questions. How much would you pay to protect your family from the devastation of identity theft and how safe is your current ISP?

Wouldn't it be great to purchase that new convertible sports car you always dreamed about? Pulling into the dealership and immediately being greeted by a highly trained sales manager that showers you with luxury features and performance capabilities of their fine line of automobiles. You sign on the dotted line, pull out on to the open road heading for that long stretch of deserted highway with the desire to experience the pleasure only a finely tuned performance machine could provide. You put the pedal to the metal only to find the manufacturer installed a device that limits your speed to 65 mph without telling you. A sense of outrage overcomes you at the blatant disregard for your consumer rights. Well that same feeling of indignation is felt by 12.9 million Internet users in the United States today.

News stories have surfaced regarding Internet service providers limiting the capabilities of file-sharing applications noting they are interfering with popular programs like BitTorrent, uTorrent and Azureus. A test performed by the Associated Press showed that one request for sharing took ten minutes of failed attempts until it was finally put through. The test also proved that the bandwidth limitations only affected the upload side of the consumers' connection and did not directly affect the downloading of files utilizing the applications.

Some Internet providers stand behind their customer limitations because they want to improve the overall Internet experience of all their subscribers and allowing such file-sharing applications to run unrestricted would negatively affect the network. However, the affected subscribers were promised the same speed and performance as everyone else and creating limitations by subscriber's type of usage is pretty drastic.

If all Internet service providers began to follow in these footsteps the world of file sharing could come to a halt. On November 1 a coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars formally asked that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) demand Internet companies to stop interfering with its subscribers' file-sharing, stating that it is in direct violation of their stance on net neutrality. Simply put, all Internet traffic should be treated the same and allowing ISP's to restrict traffic by type would give them control of the Internet.

We as consumers need to work together to make sure that what is in the best interest of an ISP may not be the best solution for all consumers or we could end up blocking innovation. There are many debates that circle the idea of file sharing but the technology is invaluable to the future growth of the Internet and its capabilities. I know that my car manufacturer recommends that I change the oil in my vehicle every 3,000 miles but that does not give them the right to limit the speed at which I travel if I go over the scheduled mileage.