Virtually all (*ALL*) the cableco's in the U.S. are, and have been for quite a while, using deep-packet inspection h/w and s/w that, while it can't 'crack' ssl (although there are some folks, myself included, that given enough cpu horsepower....) can easily collect (without using any esoteric means) the ip address you are connected to.
That is how they (the 'cablecos') can and do throttle things like P2P, newsgroups, etc. Just because you d/l a nzb doesn't mean that you are using it, though. I'll bet I d/l about 5 for every one I actually end up tasking the hoover to vacuum up, simply because I find a 'better' file.
whiteboy said:
On a side note could someone explain the benefit of using a news providers ssl connection. I understand it is more secure but not sure exactly what the benefit is.
Simply because certain providers (like the cablecos) can easily screw traffic types, and SSL helps hide it a bit. However, as they've gotten more and more bitchy (like coming up with low monthly transfer limits) they feel that they need to get more aggressive at 'network monitoring' and the like.
It takes human power to track things down, though, but they make so much money on the systems as it is, and they can make much more by overselling their capacity, that there is great incentive to put forth the effort, especially since they fully believe that the 'bandwidth hogs' are ruining their systems, even though they actually can't prove it (but they do have the receipt's for the fines from the FCC they've had to pay for the 'throttling').
I've never, and will never (hopefully), be on cable internet. My current low-apeed DSL line is 1/4 the 'full-out' speed of the local cableco, but THROUGHPUT (actual bits transferred over a month) is THREE TIMES the transfer limits of the cableco. This, at ONE THIRD the price of the cableco. Hmmm. Think I'll keep it.
Now if the state PUC doesn't screw the pooch and lets the telco stops offering DSL...
