ISPs to Introduce Download/Upload Speed Limits

ISPs throttling peer-to-peer downloads have always been criticized by users because these file-sharing applications have an incredible popularity among them but this doesn't stop the Japanese authorities to bring up a new set of guidelines which would allow ISP to limit speeds. According to The Asahi Shimbum, the Japan Internet Provider Association and three other organizations have created a new pack of guidelines which could permit the Internet service providers to limit the speeds of some users, but such actions are conditioned by several facts.

First of all, the ISP could be allowed to do such a thing only if it is proved that users have downloaded or uploaded a huge amount of data on or from the Internet. Moreover, Internet service providers have to announce their limitations, the same source informs. In addition, the limitations are allowed only if the network gets slower due to the traffic made by other users and their downloads.

Obviously, file-sharing applications would be the ones most affected by such a decision. Winny, which is said to be one of the most popular file-sharing software in Japan, may be one of those targeted by ISP restrictions.

As mentioned, the matter of ISPs throttling download speeds has always been a popular topic on the web because it has been proved that some providers limited the speeds even if they stated they hadn't done so. For instance, some Comcast customers encountered very low download speeds, the Internet service provider being accused of limiting them due to the number of customers using file-sharing applications. Moreover, a recently-released report revealed that the ISP is slowing down the p2p applications every once in a while, probably as a move to keep bandwidth available for other users who do not access such programs.