Buckeye Cable Outage Thanksgiving 2010

Wow, good thing I made sure to move into Perrysburg where I get Time Warner instead... instead of Buckeye and their domain-stealing, anti-Net-Neutrality ways.

What domain did they steal?

April 2004 Toledo Talk posting titled John Robinson Block hijacks local web site

"In the same week that the Toledo Blade won their long-coveted Pulitzer
Prize, Blade publisher John R. Block is being accused of trying to restrain
freedom of the press. Block is accused of pirating the popular web site,
"TheMentalBlock.Net", because it advocates policies that differ from those
of the newspaper he owns."

"Three days ago, Paul Hem, an employee of the Toledo Blade, requested Network
Solutions, an internet control agency, to give Hem the rights to the domain
name of TheMentalBlock.Net. That agency is currently in the process of
acting on that request."

"Paul Hem is John Block's computer systems manager at The Blade. Hem made his request
of Network Solutions citing inaccurate or incorrect information regarding
current ownership of the domain name as the reason he should be awarded
rights to the name."

"Since TheMentalBlock.Net went on line in October, 2003, it has been a severe
critic of John R. Block and his newspaper's editorial policy. The web site
has used ridicule, as much as it has facts, to oppose the Toledo newspaper.
According to the web site's editor, the Mental Block's viewership has grown from
several hundred to as many as 12,000 monthly viewers in Toledo."

Between that move of silencing their critics, and the one of SICCING THE FBI on cable modem uncappers INSTEAD OF doing the sensible thing and disconnecting their service and going after them for LOCAL theft of service in LOCAL courts, Buckeye Cable can eat bowls of dicks. They're pretty much right next to AT&T and their mega-NSA-wiretapping-Americans centers. Unfortunately the choices for broadband in Toledo are AT&T or Buckeye... so even if the city of Toledo (whose government I mostly don't care for, when I bother to care at all) promised me the equivalent of the Playboy Mansion inside of city limits with no taxes, no tickets, and endless BJs, I still wouldn't move on the grounds that the telco/cable TV providers suck ass.

Buckeye sure has more than its share of outages. Seems they wuold fix that issue. But then I guess its a monopoly. Why is that? Why cant we have freedom of choice for cable?

I don't know why the owner of thementalblock didn't just start another website. I remember thementalblock and used to download it fairly frequently. JR and his cronies are notorious for threatening stores who accept competing newspapers that cross JR with content he doesn't like with legal action. Unfortunately, these stores (and newspapers) are intimidated and don't realize they are protected. Always pissed me off.

"But then I guess its a monopoly. Why is that? Why cant we have freedom of choice for cable?"

swantucky, go to the board of elections and ask to see the campaign finance (contributions) records of former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and Toledo City Council candidates in the last decade. They are public record. I did it once. Be prepared to spend a few hours there. It pretty much tells the story of a public official or candidate more than anything else, in my opinion. You'll see that Block Communication officials and Buckeye cable contributed heavily to city council members and Finkbeiner. And it was Finkbeiner who granted another 20 year monopoly to Buckeye cable, with city council's approval.

I agree, swantucky, that there should be a choice. Only when we have competition will cable improve, and prices go down or stablize. Since The Blade owns this town, I doubt we will ever have the chance to choose cable companies.

i thought there are choices. Buckeye, ATT, and Time Warner are our choices, right?

But then I guess its a monopoly. Why is that? Why cant we have freedom of choice for cable?

i thought there are choices. Buckeye, ATT, and Time Warner are our choices, right?

For a true "cable" system, the cable company applies to local authorities for a cable "franchise" and pays a fee. That cable company then owns the local cable franchise--and it is a "legal monopoly".

Competition came with the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act-- it allowed other companies were allowed to get into what ordinary folks call "cable", namely the telephone companies. ATT has pushed ahead in our area to provide a cable-type service, but are not considered "cable" in the traditional sense.

The Dish Network/Direct TV solution is also a competitor and does not need to be sanctioned by a local "franchise".

They still have BCSN.

Over the past 7 years, I've had Buckeye, AT&T U-verse, Dish TV, and Direct TV. They've all had their ups and downs. About the same to me. Overpriced tv. Plain and simple. One wasn't any better than the rest.

Just got a new Roku box so I can stream movies and TV shows from Netflix for $7.99 a month. Screw cable. Only time I miss cable is when I want to watch live sports--then it's off to a friend's house or bar.

Oldhometown im curious who is your internet service provider?

Using AT&T right now. Why do you ask?

Comcast is not in this area, but they are trying to block Netflix in areas where they are.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/comcast_netflix/?rc=fb_share2

Is Verizon Fios not servicing the area? The area where I live services AT&T, Time Warner, but I cannot get Verizon because the fiber in my neighborhood is not big enough. 1/4 a mile down the road they get Verizon and I've heard nothing but good things.

I am happy with Time Warner though. I will never pay for Buckeye or Comcast again. Both were monopolies and sought to limit the channels and competition.

I'm actually surprised to hear they're having problems that are not fixed right away. I had Buckeye since practically the beginning (sometime before 1975, we were one of the first on the East Side to get a cable and the A/B box) until last March, and we had NO problems that lasted more than a few hours, and those were rare. We have TW now, and they're fine, but the selections are really limited and a lot of shows are duplicated on other channels, so it LOOKS like they offer a lot, kinda sketchy there, PLUS, the cost is bout $20 more per month, so I'm not super-happy but ti's the only game in town.

Comcast is not in this area, but they are trying to block Netflix in areas where they are.

Then they better go after Blockbuster's streaming service, YouTube, Hulu, and other streaming video entertainment services as well. They can't block just one.

It's just a ploy for more money. They want to tier services for those who stream video because it eats up bandwidth and is growing wildly popular.

Comcast demanding money from Level 3 to carry Netflix traffic.

Soon Buckeye will be demanding money from JR to carry ToledoTalk traffic... or they'll just take his website away from him...

I'm waiting for Homeland Security to seize the site.

Don't let them take it without a fight!

MikeyA-

Verizon has sold off their DSL and landline business in Ohio (along with some other of their service areas in the US) to Frontier Communications. My understanding is that anyplace that Verizon did not plan to install Fios was sold to Frontier, so, no, Fios won't be coming to Toledo.

I was very happy with Verizon. Frontier has already tried to get me to pay extra to up my DSL speed for $30 more a month. I explained to their telemarketer (who was obviously a very green newbie in their boiler room) that I wasn't taking their bait.

Is it true the ~25% of internet traffic at night is Netflix related? That's a lot of packets...

Buckeye (i.e., The Blade AKA John Robinson Block) runs this town. Don't complain about it or you'll get smacked down and maybe run out of town. JR, look out for your content or Paul Hem will find a way to take you down, too. It has happened before.

"Buckeye (i.e., The Blade AKA John Robinson Block) runs this town."

True, but I don't think for long. Block, and his sidekick, Fritz Byers, may have had some power years ago, but they are legends in their own minds anymore. I think the paper, anyway, will probably file for bankrupcy at some point. The area's population continues to decline, the newspaper industry itself is struggling, its image as a fair newspaper has suffered considerably over the last several years because of JRB, and there are real alternatives to The Blade out there that people are taking advantage of. Growing up, our family always got The Blade. Now, I don't know of any friends, relatives, or co-workers who get the paper. Sad, but that pretty much says it all.

As long as people subscribe to Buckeye, The Blade will continue; CATV and 'net subscriptions subsidize the paper. The paper exists to make sure the right folks get elected to assure the Blocks retain the CATV franchise.

I was just curious Oldhometown,what you used since you were so against cable services. Seems that Buckeye has the fastest available in the area that would suit the needs of streaming alot of content

I can do without most cable television. Cable services, such as Internet service, I'm OK with, as long as they are not (a) the only service provider and (b) their prices remain reasonable.

I was considering the special offers Buckeye has on their website right now as a matter of fact...

I get it. So far so good for me. I have had their internet for years. Rarely had a problem in fact I can only remember one interuption of service and apparently it was due to a piece of equipment at the office but like anything else the possibilty of failure exists