Comcast is looking to get more money from Internet customers who pirate content. DSLReports found the plan in an FCC filing. In short, Comcast wants to offer an extra fee that will opt Comcast Internet users out of having Comcast’s deep packet inspection program that tracks your browsing behavior around the Internet—down to the second.
AT&T was the first major broadband provider to charge users more if they wanted to protect their privacy when AT&T launched its gigabit broadband service in Austin in late 2014. Users have to pay AT&T $30 or more for a monthly premium to opt out of AT&T’s “Internet Preferences:” a deep packet inspection program that tracks your browsing behavior around the Internet—down to the second.
However, even if you wanted to opt out of AT&T’s Internet Preferences, it can be a difficult option to even find, as AT&T quite intentionally buried in a labyrinth of website menu options on their site. And few are likely to choose it given it dramatically raises a customer’s monthly bill from between $531 and $800 the first year. AT&T has repeatedly tried to argue that they’re not charging users for basic privacy, they’re offering a “discount.”
Comcast sees this as not only a way to make more money but as a way to also recoup losses incurred by piracy. For now Comcast has not started to offer this option, but they just wanted to keep their options open.
Source: DSLReports
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