Taking advantage of opportunities - It appears that Time Warner has proposed metering its Internet services, which is claimed as "common overseas". While some U.S. cable providers look at ways to curtail heavy users, others appear to be going forward with the announcement and others are just being silent about it. Most service providers seem to have some level of download cap and in turn keep that limit secret - stating "not to alarm the majority of users" ... "most of them are nowhere close to the limits".
The price for internet access is already high enough, hinged on an already captive audience (you need cable or fiber or the like to get any kind of a decent rate - regardless). Colleges set a cap on the amount of bits used, as do hosting companies for storage. Does it make sense to meter a service that encourages a high volume of use?
And what about that service -- What about the QoS once you pay for the premium rates? Does the consumer/end user get any warranty? And how is it all monitored?
Look at your connection speeds sometime, uploads and downloads. Do they come close to the specified rates provided by your service provider? Will the ISP give you a gas gauge to meter the bits - or will you have to go through contortions just to find what today's peak usage is?
Who Cares -- This looks like just another way to grind more out of the consumer's pocket book? And will the FCC care (of course not, it means more tax revenue for them)?
Newspapers and magazines don't charge you by the page. Why should this new medium?
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