The government has told an e-petitioners calling for an investigation into ISPs taking on too many subscribers and throttling bandwidth to get over it.

The petition, signed by 2,600 people, asked the Prime Minister to "investigate ISPs oversubscribing on their network and throttling broadband". It accused ISPs of taking on too many subscribers and restricting speeds at peak times, and said consumers were being tricked into paying for a service which they did not receive.

The government rejected the call for an investigation.

The reply said: "One main reason is that for most broadband customers the maximum speed available declines the further they are from the telephone exchange."

It said that Ofcom's recent creation of a voluntary code of conduct with ISPs would reduce misinformation about broadband speeds.

The full response is here.

The most popular petition right now is "Allow the Red Arrows to Fly at the 2012 Olympics" which has been signed by a staggering 441,383 people - this despite the government making clear that it has not "banned" them and it is a decision that the organising committee will make nearer the time.

An anti-Phorm petition is the fifth most popular and has been signed by 15,601 people. ®

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