Cox introduces new bandwidth management policy

Cox Communications is introducing a new bandwidth management policy that is sure to have many of its users up in arms. The cable and internet provider says it will begin ranking the importance of different kinds of internet use and then limit the bandwidth to those activities they consider low priority whenever they feel their network is too congested.

Cox’s list of low priority traffic includes FTP, peer to peer networking, software updates (including those regular Microsoft updates), and Usenet. Users doing any of those things will experience noticeably slower connections when Cox decides their network needs “congestion management.”

The new policy will begin a test run in Kansas and Arkansas starting next month and then will begin in other markets later in the year. It’s not yet clear how this policy will differ from the one that got Comcast in trouble with the FCC last summer. What do you think of these sorts of policies? Leave us a comment with your thoughts!

Read: [PC World]