...I can see a few problems with this... so, you couldn't watch AMC programs online if you don't have Comcast? That isn't fair at all. What if you live somewhere that doesn't HAVE Comcast?

Interesting. If they offer more than what is OnDemand then I might be interested. Allthough I would prefer to watch it on my tv anyway.

After users log in, the cable system will perform such checks as whether a Comcast cable modem is being used

So what if you bought your own modem but still have comcast service?

i think i'll just go all luddite and start playing my atari all day and pretend tv doesn't exist. there are way too many little backstabbing wars over how to get viewers to pay for content.
does anyone else remember when all the channels were free channels for consumers, paid for by advertising ? [much like a large part of the internet]

@Nicole: it's probably less the modem itself and more that the MAC address is authorized for comcast service.

I have no idea why I even subscribe to cable TV anymore. Out of perhaps 900+ channels that Time Warner offers me, I only see, what, half a dozen, and even that number if pushing it.

So for the most part I see nothing new here...isn't this what Fancast already does? The only exception being going to other sites detecting a Comcast modem. On the flipside this sounds right along the lines of what Net Neutrality were trying to prevent.

will the online content count towards monthly caps if/when they are in place? I'm betting they will.

@catastrophegirl: I totally have the Atari system that lets you play old-skool Atari games and I am AWESOME at them now because Adventure is way easy once you've play a Nintento game, let alone an N64 game or an Xbox game!

@Eldritch: Comcast's response: time to move.

@catastrophegirl: If you go all luddite, you won't be able to play atari in the first place.

@Goatweed: "if/when?" Comcast has a monthly cap already! Were you aware?

And my guess? For a while, yes, this will count towards your monthly cap. That is, until they move towards per-byte monthly billing, and then perhaps they may make exceptions for you using their feeds. However, there will be shitloads of commercials in those streams to make up for it.

@Nicole: Or if it's a Comcast IP.

Time to set up a VPN at la casa de mis padres.

@ep5760: Wait. How is net neutrality going to prevent Comcast from offering streaming services to their customers?

It's a value-added service where online streaming is included with your cable subscription. They're not degrading or preventing you from using other services.

How is this different than, say, DirecTV offering NBA online streaming to people who subscribe to DirecTV's NBA League Pass? Nothing's stopping anyone from going to nba.com/leaguepass and ordering a streaming subscription. If I subscribe to DirecTV's service, I get streaming included.

@Eldritch: Right now, you can't watch AMC programs online at all. After this, Comcast subscribers will be able to do so.

Life isn't fair.

@catastrophegirl: There's still such a thing. Buy an antenna and one of those digital TV thingamajigs. Good luck finding something you actually want to watch, though.

@Michael Belisle: If the companies such as AMC were to only offer this to Comcast modems and not AT&T or Time Warner or whoever customers. That's what net neutrality is looking to block.

I think this is important, because when Comcast no longer has to follow net neutrality rules they'll need to find a way to make sure they're customers come to them for their video fix.

(Let's face it, there's no mainstream uproar over McCain's bill, it will pass not with a bang, but a whimper.)

@amiableamy: i have one of those things but i just haven't attached the main house antenna to it and i don't get a signal out here with rabbit ears

@wickedpixel: Then again, I could see Comcast "accidentally" restricting it to just Comcast cable modems. They'd be apologetic, insist they weren't engaging in anti-competitive business practices, and promise a fix Real Soon Now™.

@catastrophegirl: I don't remember any such time. In fact, cable TV was around before broadcast TV...

@ep5760: I still don't agree. You're saying that solely because the content is transmitted over IP or the Internet, net neutrality principles suggest that anything Comcast secures rights to distribute must also be given free to everyone in the world? That doesn't make sense. Like, you're telling me that if DirecTV wants to pay the NFL $4 billion for exclusive Sunday Ticket rights (including streaming of games over the Internet), the FCC should step in and say "No, DirecTV you can't purchase content and distribute it only to your customers. NFL content is a public good that belongs to the world."

The story here is really "Comcast to offer new online streaming service to its customers." There's no reason why Comcast should have to offer the service for free to people who are not their customers.

What Net Neutrality really says Comcast can't do is to favor transmission of their On Demand Online service over the transmission of a competitor's service. AMC, meanwhile, can do whatever they want with their content. They're a content provider, and thus restrictions placed on internet service providers are irrelevant. There's nothing in net neutrality that says AMC must treat all internet service providers equally.

@enomosiki: Which has prompted a lot of people to go the internet-TV route. Which is why the cable companies are now starting to offer services like this. Circle of life, my friend.

a Comcast cable modem that you have to rent a $5/m what a joke.

@Michael Belisle:

not direct tv only ANY ONE WHO GETS nba LP Also includes NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND

@Nicole: Customer owned modems are added to the inventory alongside of Comcast owned modems, and use the same IP blocks. I think people are reading far too much into this.

I'm a Comcast customer and was in a beta for this service for awhile. Then, I found out that you can only watch shows, without breaking the TOS, when you are connected to the Comcast modem, as stated in the article. Personally, I don't see the point of this and would value the service a lot more if I could log-in with my Comcast ID from wherever I am (on vacation, business, etc.) and watch something instead of being reliant on the local television options. I'm not going to sit at my computer in my house and watch TV when I have a 50in TV to watch TV on.

Um, if you have to be working through a Comcast modem, you are probably at home, in which case it would just be easier to watch shows through OnDemand than through a computer hooked up to your TV. Just cut out all the B.S. and make OnDemand better. And stop charging a buck for each NBC show.

I'm thinking this is just a setup to eventually make more money by putting caps on downloads and charging for overages and then only allowing people to view shows through streaming instead of OnDemand. This pushes the costs onto the users.

...since I have already been contacted by the "terms of service" folks at Comcast for my "excessive" use, I now go down to my local library.

I get about 3.5 gigs/per/hour at home but, when I use the wireless at the public library, I get 5-6 gigs/per/hour.

I just setup my cues in "grabit" while at home and then do the actual download at the library.
Simple solution...I get all the downloads I want and the "great" folks at Comcast think I'm a "light user."

@Difdi: I think that is usually known as the "telegraph"

@Al Swearengen: I have no cable box, so OnDemand isn't an option.

@PunditGuy:

I don't think you'd be able to stream then. It says you need both Comcast TV and internet to be able to stream, and they give you the cable box if you have cable.

@Al Swearengen:
Have you ever tried to watch on-demand. My on-demand is so damn slow, take like 5 secs. for it to respond to any input. And then, it's hard to find anything on there, they have to fix it to make it more easier to find stuff, and then they have to fix it to make it faster.

This isn't a Net neutrality issue. It's a simple matter of content providers charging for content. Comcast's model is sort of the reverse of Gillette. The razor model was to give away the razor and then charge for the blades. Comcast is giving away the blades but you have to buy the razor.

Newsday announced earlier this week that they would begin charging for access through the Net. I expect other content providers will follow suit to see how much they can charge before the viewers decide it's not worth the cost. The advertising model doesn't work for many of these content providers because they don't get enough hits to make it worthwhile.

BTW, Verizon's FIOS already does something similar with its On Demand service. You can get all the Starz, HBO and other movies on demand, but only if you already subscribe to the premium service. Nothing unusual. Just decide what you want to pay for and if you don't want to pay the extra cost, watch the networks.

@Eldritch: My guess is that this is because Comcast will be running the servers and hosting the (considerable) infrastructure that allow people to do this. Not the AMC network itself. If Comcast wants to offer this service only to its own subscribers, that's their prerogative.

@Al Swearengen:
You're barking up the wrong tree. NBC forces cable providers to charge for their shows, and then send NBC the money. Complain to NBC to make their shows available for free.

I don't get the point at all. If I already subscribe to cable tv services why would I watch any of it on my pc? Now it would make perfect sense if I could subscribe to their IPTV services as a new customer at a dramatic discount since I would be watching via my pc. I should get a huge price break for watching programming on that.

@Michael Belisle:
wickedpixel is right, it goes by MACID, and spoofing doesn't work.

@Eldritch: At least Comcast is progressing. Cablevision is so bad it's not worth having cable. I wish I had Comcast just so I didn't have to deal with this you pay for all 75 channels but you can only get half unless you rent a box from us for each TV for $7 a month per box BS. Sometimes I wonder if the cable companies will hit a point where they're charging so many fees and high prices and enough people say screw you and they actually start losing money for once.

@dragonpup:
Correct. There is no functional difference between a rented modem and a purchased modem. Purchased or rented, for the same service, they are handled identically.

I have comcast basic cable which does not need a cable box. No cable box means no on-demand. This would bring on-demand to those without a cable box.

@Colonel Jack O'Neill:
Your box is either bad or OnDemand needs to be reloaded in the box. Call TV tech support and they'll fix it for you. (I work for Comcast tech support)

@lmarconi: Comcast is moving to "pay us and you don't get more than ~5-10 channels unless you get a box"

@Difdi: cite? Everything I've heard is that cable started as a way to get broadcast signals to people who couldn't get the signal over the air due to terrain (Community Antenna TeleVision)

@Al Swearengen: My OnDemand offers virtually no actual episodes of the shows I watch. Even the episodes that claim they're available OnDemand when you're watching them just mean they have material related to that show, not that particular episode.

Waste of cable here.

@floraposte:

That's why I said make OnDemand BETTER. If they put all the shows into OnDemand that they were going to put into streaming, and make OnDemand navigation better, it would make more sense than doing streaming, IMHO.

@Al Swearengen: I've got analog cable through Comcast. Remember that service? It's channels 2-79. I've also got their Internet service. If they're only doing a check to see if I'm on a Comcast IP address, then I'm about to get streaming access to a bunch of channels that I don't get.

My guess is that they'll somehow tie your subscription information to a login at their streaming site.

@enomosiki: ITA. Weren't there rumors that Comcast would start offering a la carte cable this past summer? Or at least offer a package that excludes sports programming? I could swear I read that somewhere.