Digital television is just bits, too. If this charging of bits is so offensive, then where was everybody when digital TV, including On Demand, wasn't getting charged against your internet bandwidth?
The Internet still is, ultimately, a collection of networks, not a monolithic thing. There's no Comcast "in" the Internet and another Comcast "out" of the Internet. It really is cheaper for Comcast to move bits in their own network, and this really unpacks to a demand for Comcast to extra specially mark up their own bits for customers, charge far more than they really have to, not a deal for the customers.
Given that, I wouldn't be surprised Comcast ends up rolling right over on this if the fuss gets loud enough. "You really think everyone should pay more for those bits? Well... if you insist...."
I think there are viable counterarguments (simonster's is probably the best), but let's be clear on exactly what those counterarguments are counterarguing and ground them in reality, not on a mythical view of the Internet.
On Demand & CATV set-top boxes never transmitted data over your HSI connection. Streampix does.
Comcast has CDNs on their networks & their own customers can connect with each other, yet those activities will still count against a customer's cap. What makes Streampix different? Maybe there is a good reason, but I don't think Comcast wants to answer or divulge the true costs of bits flowing over it's network.
Comcast playing fair & people getting a better idea on how the caps affect their usage I think are good things. Comcast basically wants people to live in fear of hitting their cap if they use a competitor but don't want to stress it's own customer's over a problem they created.
On Demand & CATV set-top boxes never transmitted data over your HSI connection.
They can and do in some cases. Most Motorola set tops made in the last 5-7 years have a built-in cable modem. It can be used for streaming IP VOD, multicast video, and most often used for the set top to transmit data (ie VOD control) back to your cable provider. It's not all that commonly used but it definitely blurs the lines. Simply transporting traffic via DOCSIS doesn't make it Internet traffic. For example Comcast's digital voice service has never counted against caps either.
I would be doubtful that any set-top boxes built-in modem uses the same channels or network as the customer's HSI. I don't think the issue is that Comcast might do two-way digital communication, it's more an issue on how Comcast classifies & regulates it's services.
CDV is an interesting thing & is blurring the lines somewhat. However, I think the fact that they require internally separate proprietary hardware that accesses their private VOIP network w/ QoS to avoid interfering with the customer's HSI, makes it less shifty vs Streampix which explicitly uses the customer's HSI because it must if it's to work on a phone or Xbox.
They do. Cable modems are provisioned with multiple service flows much in the same way cable digital phone service works. I've seen this setup in a lab being run from one CMTS. The modem has a service flow for Internet (say 50Mbit/sec) and another for the eSTB (say 30Mbit/sec) which can handle the IP VOD and IP multi-cast video. It is possible to have multiple CMTSs for this however both Cisco and Motorola are investing in VDOC (video-over-DOCSIS) scale solutions that allow you to put all your eggs into one huge basket. One cable modem / gateway will ultimately be feeding every cable service in your home and some portion of it will be provisioned for plain ole' Internet traffic while the rest of it will be allocated for MSO services. From what I can tell this is not how Comcast is delivering IP VOD to the Xbox today. I would expect them to make the transition fairly quickly though. This stuff has been up and running in labs for the last 5+ years. MSOs are just very slow to adopt new technology.
I think it's technically impossible for Comcast to get video to the Xbox w/o using the IP connection provided by the customer's HSI service. I would say, so long as it's using the same IP the customer would use to get on the Internet with, that it is using HSI and should be subject to whatever limitations they place on HSI.
Your HSI connection is just a channel on a QAM. Your statement "On Demand & CATV set-top boxes never transmitted data over your HSI connection" is just backwards your HSI data is always transmitted over your CATV pipes. The only core differences between the Xbox content and your TV content is the protocol.
CATV & HSI are services that operate on the same coaxial connection. That doesn't mean they are the same thing. You do not need CATV to get HSI or HSI to get CATV. They are independent of each other and Comcast has provisioned their network as such.
And that's what's going on here: the bits are cheaper when they don't count against a quota, so Comcast's service is inherently discriminatory.