Andre Vrignaud

Andre Vrignaud was left without internet service this week after Comcast gave him the boot for using more than 250 GB of two months in a row.

Now Vrignaud, a Seattle gaming consultant, is banned from Comcast for a year under the internet providers policy to crack down on heavy data users, according to a lengthy post by Wired.

Here is how Vrignaud, who also worked at Amazon and with Xbox and Xbox Live at Microsoft, describes his recent Comcast event:

It's one of those things I never thought would hit me. They didn't even call. I just got double blinking lights on my modem. If I'd been foolish enough to depend on something like Skype or some other VOIP service for 911, I would have been hosed.

Vrignaud’s experience shows that ISP’s like Comcast are serious about cracking down on users who violate data cap policies, driven by heavy downloads of music and other digital files. Wireless companies such as T-Mobile and AT&T also have implemented data caps for its wireless customers, in an effort to moderate heavy data users.

Comcast told Wired that Vrignaud is to blame for failing to monitor his bandwidth better.

In a blog post, Vrignaud said he didn’t use Comcast Business service in the past because it was more expensive, and he didn’t believe he needed all the features.

He said he as a lot of data he stores and shares in the cloud. And he also saves photo files and downloads music and videos.

In his blog post, Vrignaud argues that internet service is a necessity and a right:

My opinion on all this is simple. The ability to access broadband internet is a right, and should be defined as an essential utility. Just as you're surprised when you flick a light switch and the light doesn't come on so are you surprised when the internet goes away in your house. The internet is used for communication, entertainment, business — an entire panopoly of human endeavours. Just as there are protections to keep water and electricity flowing to your house, so should the internet be protected.