Comcast has finally announced that it will introduce 250GB per month bandwidth caps for all residential customers this fall. It insists that this is the same policy it always had, but with clearer limits.

The era of unlimited Internet usage for a flat monthly price is one step closer to its end, as cable giant Comcast officially announced that residential subscribers would top out at 250 gigabytes per month of data bandwith availability, beginning October 1.

Comcast, the nation's second-largest Internet service provider, said it would set an official limit on the amount of data subscribers can download and upload each month.

Comcast soon will begin cracking down on heavy users of its Internet service in a move that critics fear could be a step toward restricting unlimited broadband access to download and upload files while surfing the Web.

Comcast, the country's largest broadband provider, is rolling out restrictions on its service usage. Subscribers whose use of the Internet exceeds 250 GB of data a month will first get a warning call and then on the second instance, their service will be suspended for a year.

Internet users are increasingly time-shifting their media consumption by downloading podcasts to watch or listen later, according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Comcast's announcement of new monthly usage caps does signify a significant shift in the U.S. broadband market that won't be reversible and could end with metered overage billing.

The San Diego Union-Tribune announced buyouts that aim to cut its staff by 76 positions, including 30 in the newsroom. The offer comes barely a month after the newspaper's owner, Copley Press Inc., put itself up for sale.

As gadgets with digital audio capability proliferate, podcast downloading continues to increase. Currently, 19 percent of all Internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they could listen to it or view it later. This most recent figure is up from 12 percent in 2006.

A judge has ruled that a Virginia woman may continue to publish the Social Security numbers of public officials on her Web site as a protest against the Virginia government's failure to redact Social Security from its own public records.