AT&T believes Internet metering is “inevitable”
by Stevie Smith - Jun 16 2008, 10:15
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How in the world do they expect people like myself that download 1000's of gigs of data every month to pay for this? this is just another scam for the cable and ISP providers to make more money then they already are.
nice how they say the majority of users will never hit their cap. if that's the case, then you guys are making money off bandwidth that isn't consumed. nice of you to then penalize the folks who actually do use what they pay for.
this reminds me of the old dial up days where we paid for minutes online. there is a reason that model fell by the wayside. this idea won't fly with consumers.
This is greed, pure and simple. The ISP's should know that the answer to challenges isn't to impose economic hardships to curtail them, but to invest in research and development to innovate a solution. Not only does it serve the greater good, but could also be a cash cow for the developer.
I'm all for making sure bandwidth is kept in balance to help ensure that everyone is getting their fair share of the 'bandwidth pie'. But if the ISPs are going to start capping bandwidth per month (which I'm ok with), how is that going to effect future companies hoping to use that pipeline for the business? What about NetFlix selling movie viewing via the net? If I now have to be monitoring my bandwidth every month, and with media content increasing everyday on the net, I'll certainly have to choose at some point whether or not to watch those movies over the net, or just have them mailed to me. Again, this is one example. Companies planning on using the net for offline data storage, game play, peer-to-peer file sharing (the good kind), will all be impacted at some point. Also, if the ISP's start capping the bandwidth per month (with the opportunity to buy more each month of course for going over the limit), are they going to supply a piece of software so I can monitor my bandwidth usage on a month to month basis? Also, if I don't use all of my bandwidth for a given month, are they going to roll that over to my next month? Similar type billing issues with cell phones. Just some food for thought.
Another good invention ruined by greed. Its never about usage, just the money, When they say they expect the usage to triple or more, what they are really saying is 'Look at all the potential money we could make, Oil company's can do it why not us' People will complain, but like all good sheep nowadays thats all they'll do, they will pay and complain boo hoo while the scams continue. Greed is going to be this stupid country's undoing yet.
We should not let this happen. It is not fair. As somebody said, it is just a means that ISPs want to use to make more money than they already do from their subscribers.
We should not let his happen.
I have a problem with this because they are the same companies the control TV content. We are getting closer to IP only cable companies. This model would seem kill competition.
Let 'em try it. All it will take is for ONE company to buck the system and refrain from such practices; the old dinosaurs will have to revert back or risk losing share to other start-ups which will enter the non-metering space.
And let's face facts...ComCast and AT&T are Dinosaurs with a capital 'd,' overly ripe for the kill.
Side Note: Any enterprising jourmalist should have no troubles linking 'capping' to the RIAA and MPAA as a means to stifle peer-to-peer file sharing ... and I'd be willing to bet heavily that these two entities are threatening ISPs (who are more and more also other media content deliverers, such as cable and broadcast TV/radio station owners) that their companies will likely see a lack of movies and music available should they not agree to capping practices.
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TimJun 16th, 2008 - 12:36:11
When this happens, I will NOT use the isp's who use this. If I am no longer able to use the highspeed unlimited access I signed up for, then I see no need to keep the service. E-mail can be checked on dial up.
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