Law bars ISPs from charging rental fees for a modem you own

Has your internet provider ever charged rental fees for a modem even after you bought one? You won’t have that pushback any longer. As Ars Technica notes, the Television Viewer Protection Act taking effect December 20th will ban ISPs and TV providers...

Comcast is the first ISP to join Mozilla’s push for more secure browsing

Mozilla’s effort to secure domain name requests now has a major new ally: Comcast. The cable giant’s Xfinity brand has become the first internet provider to provide encrypted DNS services through Mozilla’s Trusted Recursive Resolver program. If you’r...

Cox slows an entire neighborhood’s internet after one person’s ‘excessive use’

Cable company Cox Communications is slowing internet speeds of a whole neighborhood if one resident is a heavy user, Ars Technica reported. Cox confirmed that it does enact neighborhood-wide slowdowns to discourage what it calls “excessive use,” but...

Yes, the Patriot Act amendment to track us online is real

Just being able to calmly purchase toilet paper feels like reason enough to celebrate these days. But one thing a lot of people won’t be cracking champagne over this month is the renewal of the Patriot Act/USA Freedom Act — and its terrible inclusion...

UK internet providers will lift data caps during COVID-19 pandemic

The UK is echoing others in lifting internet restrictions to keep people online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major telecoms like BT/EE, Openreach and Virgin Media have struck an agreement that will remove "all" data caps on current landline broadba...

AT&T and Comcast improve internet access in response to COVID-19

With so many people in the US working and learning from home, as offices and schools close in response to the coronavirus pandemic, internet service providers (ISPs) are beginning to react. Comcast is increasing internet speeds for low-income users,...