The AP reports that Cox Communications is testing a new way to handle internet congestion. The method:
Cox will give priority to Internet traffic it judges to be time-sensitive, like Web pages, streaming video and online games. File downloads, software updates and other non-time sensitive data may be slowed if there is congestion on the local network
Currently the test is taking place only in Kansas and Arkansas, but it sounds like they're hoping to increase the use of the system. Unfortunately, as weblog TorrentFreak points out:
Cox does not explain what the definition of a congested network is, how often its users can expect to be throttled and more specifically, at what times of the day this is likely to happen. Secondly, it is currently unknown what measures Cox will actually take, and what applications will be used to slow down its customers.
The "time-sensitive" filtering seems arbitrary at best, since you could easily make an argument for and against time sensitivity for virtually every item on Cox's Congestion Management FAQ. Conveniently enough, Cox's time sensitivity criterion just happens to throttle primarily the very same P2P apps that Comcast was ordered to stop throttling. Photo by JasonWalton.