ISP introduces upload cap to stymie P2P servers
Japanese firm takes sensible approach and leaves downloaders alone
In spite of the perception of being ahead of the curve in all things tech, Japan is generally considered to be two to three years behind the West when it comes to most things related to the internet.
One area in which it has just caught up, however, is in ISPs capping their customers' domestic connections, albeit in a more useful way than we've come to expect.
Servers targeted
OCN, an ISP run by former monopoly telecoms company NTT, announced this week that its seven million customers would be limited to 30GB of uploads per day from August.
The company explained that this new cap would, "help ensure stable, trouble-free access to the internet for all customers."
Although breaching the daily 30GB upload limit is way beyond the capacity of most normal users, OCN is clearly targeting customers who are up to no good, most likely running servers on file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent.
Fast connections
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A statement from OCN said: "a small number of individual users have been monopolising substantial network resources by uploading massive amounts of data, which can slow the speed of the network and lower communication quality for other users."
The numbers look colossal on the surface, but in reality 30GB equates to just over 40 full-length movies of the 700MB file-size typically found on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.
With Japanese residential fibre connections commonly running at 100Mbit/s, there's no shortage of takers when the goodies are on offer.
J Mark Lytle was an International Editor for TechRadar, based out of Tokyo, who now works as a Script Editor, Consultant at NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Writer, multi-platform journalist, all-round editorial and PR consultant with many years' experience as a professional writer, their bylines include CNN, Snap Media and IDG.