The filing was submitted for the FCC's proceeding on Comcast's proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable and its proceeding on net neutrality rules.
In a Roku filing in the FCC's net neutrality proceeding, the company argued that authentication systems run by Internet service providers can be used to pick and choose which hardware platforms customers may use to access streaming services.
ISPs could demand payment from operators of third-party streaming platforms in exchange for not blocking content, the filing suggests. A large and powerful MVPD may use this leverage in negotiations with content providers or operators of streaming platforms, ultimately favoring parties that can either afford to pay for the privilege of authentication, or have other business leverage that can be used as a counterweight to discriminatory authentication," Roku wrote.
We asked Roku if it had to pay Comcast to complete this latest deal. Share Share Tweet Email. GR Staff. Read Next in gaming. Other users have also mentioned that signing in on a different platform has helped them fix the issue.
Let us know in the comments area below. Commenting as. Not you? Save information for future comments. You probably want to enjoy the latest HBO Go shows and movies right from your computer or mobile device.
Signing in with your second username is also said to help with this. Opera Opera is one of the fastest browsers on the market, and it boasts several tools that make it great for streaming. You buy a Roku 3. You already pay for cable and HBO. You hook it up but just need Comcast servers to basically say "yes, he's a paying cable customer," something that's not a problem for every other ISP. You really don't see how this is at least related to the entire net neutrality debate?
Punishing HBO for what Comcast is doing doesn't really accomplish anything here. It's obvious this is a problem, but I don't think you've yet demonstrated that it's a NN problem. We could still have the exact same scenario, and would you still call it a net neutrality violation? Yes, if you've got an incumbent gatekeeper using its power to block consumer choice, I absolutely do consider it part of the net neutrality conversation.
The only difference again is they're using authentication instead of throttling or blocking to limit consumer choice. John Fenderson profile , 5 Mar pm. I'm saying that isn't, and shouldn't be, part of "net neutrality".
It should be handled as a separate issue entirely. It's a clever end around of net neutrality logic by ISPs. Just like interconnection is an extension of the net neutrality debate to the edge of the network, this is an attempt at the same end goals simply using a refusal to authenticate.
It's all part of the conversation regarding giant ISPs abusing their market position to limit choice! Hans , 5 Mar pm. You seem to be showing quite a sense of entitlement. You bought all these things, and then you seem to believe in a "right" that they work the way you want them to.
And further, that someone else should be compelled to make that happen. And your main justification is that you paid for them, and other companies have chosen to make it happen, so Comcast should be forced to do it too.
It's called "voting with your wallet". If you don't like the service, don't buy it. I don't buy your claim that HBO is a victim here, and you've provided little evidence of it.
When they start losing business, perhaps they'll consider other business arrangements. What a brat. The consumer is the victim.
Yes, wanting to be able to access content I pay for, via bandwidth I pay for, using a piece of hardware I own. I think his point is that just because you bought a Roku doesn't mean Comcast should have to support it. The problem really is not Comcast, it's the fact that your only option is Comcast. I wholeheartedly disagree. If HBO provided an internet service that I could buy without being a cable subscriber, and Comcast tried to fiddle with that, it would be the same thing.
Here's the thing. If we want to really solve the neutrality problem, we need to disaggregate or unbundle the content from the delivery. If we really want the freedom I think you're asking for, the old model needs to go. Then Comcast will be stuck delivering my unfettered bits and I can pick and choose the content I'm interested in rather than the whole "premium bundle" with tons of crap I don't want.
Anonymous Coward , 5 Mar pm. Just in case that first paragraph isn't clear, it should say "If HBO provided an internet content service that I could buy without being a cable content subscriber Tommy Wheeler came up with fast lanes, not ISPs.
Zero rated apps sound great. They're not dummies: they know exactly what they're doing. They spend all their time in Congress fighting to get more money for Comcast, and then when their term's up they've already got cushy jobs lined up at Comcast.
Why not work to increase the profits of the company that's going to be paying your salary in a few years? Dave Cortright profile , 5 Mar am. Nothing like a little competition to put Comcast back in their place. The fuckery stops when consumers have other viable options. Michael , 5 Mar am. Until they route all of the traffic through a single backbone router so it doesn't have enough bandwidth to reliably stream anything.
To reduce "network collisions", of course. Running all traffic through a single router would increase network collisions, not decrease them. So, what did Comcast get out of this obfuscatory exercise? As now all those frustrated consumers can go direct to HBO and ignore an obstructionist middleman, does Comcast lose anything other than customer satisfaction? Does their bottom line take a hit?
What does Comcast's CEO tell their shareholders? We managed to burn the building down before anybody else could, woohoo! We rock! Chadda profile , 5 Mar am. Hopefully this brings another strong proprietor to Net Neutrality, and exposes to those who keep saying "It's big bad Netflix, not the poor ISP's fault.
Chronno S. Trigger profile , 5 Mar am. Just charge a little more for the untethered service and boom, Comcast doesn't have you by the balls or other delicate body parts and you get a boost in paying customers. Comcast doesn't have you by the balls Ask Netflix how badly their balls got squeezed by Verizon before claiming Comcast does not have HBO by the balls.
I would love to know the details of their interconnection. If you have the details, please let us know! Or is Comcast simply not implementing some specific-to-HBO protocol? Network traffic, or a service? If HBO Go requires no work on Comcast's part to implement then it is simply network traffic, and Comcast should not interfere. Same as supporting BitTorrent traffic, or passing any other bits along.
And on the gripping hand, if Comcast is not supporting some standard network service incidentally used by HBO Go, then we can ridicule their half-arsed internet implementation. So yes, Comcast has to do something on their end to activate the service.
They aren't blocking people from activating HBO Go on a tablet, for example, they're just blocking activation on a PS4. This tells me that they activate by device, not by user. Basically, a dumb ass implementation designed for this exact reason. So they can be dicks to people who don't want to live on Comcast's time table. Does this mean that every internet-connected "device" of any kind that you have behind your router must somehow not only be seen by Comcast, but approved and registered by Comcast?
Likely they are blocking the traffic itself coming across the network. The network I support has an internet filter that can recognize secure traffic and stop it.
For example, it won't be able to tell what is in the traffic but it can recognize that facebook is being access over https and stop the connection. Simple answer: No. The difference with HBO Go is due to how the app authenticates itself.
For reasons that I don't fully understand, this is done on a per device basses. The PS4 app has a different signature than the Android app or any other version of the app. There's a database of valid signatures somewhere that Comcast looks at to see if the app your using is real or some third party, unauthorized thing.
Comcast has decided that they're not going to update their database of signatures, so the PS4's app is considered to be fake and, thus, denied. The easier way to do that is for Comcast to provide an authentication code that HBO Go can use to authenticate a user. Then, any app that logs in with that username and password can access the service. HBO would keep that authentication code and every now and again check with Comcast to make sure the code is still valid.
HBO would then be responsible for keeping track of what apps are authorized or not, but that should be HBO's problem anyways. Thank you for the excellent explanation. Hopefully Mr. Otherwise, those of us who don't already understand how HBOGo works might all be left scratching our heads wondering -- or left with a completely wrong impression. Dear mister anonymous commenter accusing me of being "misleading. When pressed, Comcast would only offer a generic statement saying yeah, it would try and get right on that.
Whether they're outright blocking the service, or intentionally lagging on getting authentication to work when again, it works for every other major ISP the end result is the same: Comcast is actively working to prohibit consumers from using hardware they own and bandwidth they pay for to access the services they want. I absolutely believe this sort of behavior fits under the net neutrality umbrella.
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