The Future Of Internet Usage
The Internet was more fun when you had to know unix to navigate; when you it was a select group of people who knew about it and played with it. Now, the government wants to get involved, and the telecoms want to charge you more for more usage. How long before emails are no longer free?
Time Warner Cable, began a trial of “Internet metering” in one Texas city early this month, asking customers to select a monthly plan and pay surcharges when they exceed their bandwidth limit. The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes.
That same week, Comcast said that it would expand on a strategy it uses to manage Internet traffic: slowing down the connections of the heaviest users, so-called bandwidth hogs, at peak times.
AT&T also said Thursday that limits on heavy use were inevitable and that it was considering pricing based on data volume. “Based on current trends, total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years,” the company said in a statement.
All three companies say that placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users.
KEEP THE INTERNET THE WAY IT IS!!! I’ll be really pissed if the government gets involved.
And I really hope that the telecoms don’t get away with this way of charging for internet time…..I’ll be paying hundreds a month!! Not only that, but so many people who have access to the internet now will cut down on their usage and internet will suffer because of it. So I guess I’m not against the government stopping these telecom companies from screwing us, but I am against government regulation of the internet.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
FUCK YOU CORPORATE AMERICA!!!
June 14th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Don’t leave out the elected congress,& senate,& president, when you “f” bomb folks.
REVOLUTION at the POLLS ! Vote the bastards OUT !
The internet just might be the last hope of freedom we have in this country!
VOTE the bastards out before they “f” up the internet with “regulations” !
THAT MEANS LESS FREEDOM>!!!!!!!!!!
“f” the BASTARDS!
June 15th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Just 15% of the voting public and WE can start a revolution at the polls.
THINK about that!!!!!!!!!!
You are NOT as secure as you think Mr. politican!
June 15th, 2008 at 12:04 am
To hell with these telecom corporations and these politicians!!!
June 15th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Well, the first thing I’ll do is cancel my TV package, because it’s just shit anyway, and I’ve got plenty of books still to read.
And if it gets really outrageous I’ll go back to dial-up, and just click that little switch in my web browser that says, “Do not display graphics.”
And, ummm…hmmm… oh, yeah. Fuck you, corporate scumbags.
June 15th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Umm Australia has had broadband caps since we got Broadband in the 90’s.
It’s not a new thing. You’re just catching up ;)
June 15th, 2008 at 2:41 am
“It’s not a new thing. You’re just catching up”
Yea, but Asian and European broadband is several time faster than ours is, AND it cost less.
No kiss, no vasoline…
June 15th, 2008 at 3:14 am
There’s a lot of fucking to be done today …
FUCK YOU AND MAY YOU BURN IN HELL YOU SCUM SUCKING FACIST CORPORATIONS THAT WOULD ASK FOR OUR FIRST BORN JUST SO WE CAN WATCH TV AND CHECK EMAIL!!!
MAY ALL YOUR BANANAS TURN BROWN BY THE NEXT DAY!!!
God Fucking Damn it, they just can’t leave us alone!
Time Warner is already getting $96 per month from me just so I can watch fucking cable tv. $30 more to AOL for fucking internet.
FUCK YOU AND KISS MY SOON TO BE HOMELESS PENNILESS ASS!!@!!
June 15th, 2008 at 5:25 am
The problem is extreme bandwidth hogs. Probably <5% of subscribers do this but the ones that do threaten destroy the experience for the rest of us…much like spammers.
Comcast was, I think, toying around with the idea of limiting like 250GB/month of downloading. That’s 8GB a day, which is about 10 movies (assuming ~800KB a movie) through questionably legal Bittorrent sites such as Mininova, Pirate Bay, etc.
*Completely* unmetered traffic with all the media available nowadays is the same thing as a restaurant saying “All You Can Eat” and allowing diners to fill a suitcase full of food and take it home with them. It’s not really designed for that.
I think it’s a bad idea to charge by the byte UNLESS it’s above a certain amount or cap it on a monthly basis. There’s very few people who download enough to reach any reasonable cap. The ones that do are very likely abusers to begin with. That is, downloading media files 24/7 while they are at work/school. You can really slam your connection if you want to.
June 15th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Geeze, Epiphany, drop cable and just pay for dial-up then. :D
Cable is expensive but you do get a lot of channels and broadband internet is worth every penny for what it can do. I mean, the world at your fingertips for $30/month is a bargain.
June 15th, 2008 at 5:40 am
I think I could live peacefully without the internet and electricity and banking and gasoline and telephones, we’re already taxed beyond belief.
When the government takes away all our money, we’ll all be happy.
June 15th, 2008 at 6:04 am
and while I’m on a psychotic ranting roll…
I DESPISE CELLPHONES!!!
Do you know what it’s like living in New York City with 8.2 MILLION CELLPHONES GOING OFF ALL THE TIME???
I had a cellphone a few years ago. Had it for a year. Hated it. Got rid of it. It’s NOT necessary! I don’t really need to get called in the supermarket whilst oggling cheeses from around the world to hear what a BASTARD your husband is!
I don’t care if you have kids that you worry about. You just saw them, you can wait till they get home to talk to them. Your sick old mother? Good reason but I don’t care. Your phone going off when she calls you annoys me. Get rid of it. Your new born baby’s been kidnapped and the kidnappers got the money and are calling you to tell you where the baby has been left? I don’t care. Get rid of it. 8.2 million.
Oh God and all the stupid ringtones. A million different ringtones, each one more obnoxious than the next. I can’t even sit in the park anymore in peace AND FEED THE FUCKING SQUIRRELS without hearing someone’s cellphone go off and it’s “FUNKY TOWN”!
Tomorrow I will be writing my congressmen and woman (Hillary) to demand that they put forth new legislation banning cellphones in public.
Get caught with a cellphone on the street?
20 YEARS IN PRISON! NO PAROLE! And no phonecalls the WHOLE time yer in there! Brown bananas for breakfast and lunch and spam for din-din.
Thank you! And have a nice day!
June 15th, 2008 at 6:16 am
The solution is simple. Broadband internet will be taxed for the ease, speed, and unlimited usage it can provide in the future. That’s like the premium channel. Keep the basic internet free, slow, and filled with viruses. Nobody likes a mutt, but you’ve got to pay for the dog that is “Best in Show.” You can’t force everyone to pay the premium price. Health care is the same way. If all I want is basic, then why should I pay a premium price just because my neighbor can and does? Would you shop at 7-11 for groceries? That’s stupid for the internet, health care, and groceries.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Oh! And by the way, if appropriate to you …
Happy Father’s Day! :-D
June 15th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Hey epiph, don’t forget the assholes who talk on the phone while they drive and don’t pay attention to the road! That shit makes me want to ram the fuckers off the road…
June 15th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Hey, Epiphany and Fury, I don’t agree with the government banning cellphone use in public but I do agree that it’s pretty lame that people essentially BROADCAST their lives to everyone around them. Although, perhaps banning them in certain public parks? Gotta have peace somewhere.
Ha ha, I hate all the crappy ringtones too. Nobody cares about hearing “Funky Town” when someone is calling you.
People have no manners anymore. Epiphany, you need to live down South where everything is much slower-paced. Although, a lot of us right-wingers live down here.
June 15th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
The problem, however, is that they are going after the ‘hogs’ today. Tommorrow they may realize they can make even more money by charging everybody by the GB.
We may see several levels of service, like the phone company does now. Up to so many GB for $X.
June 15th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I wish I was a corporation, then at least I know the government would care about me…
June 15th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
“…placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users.”
Smells like bullshit to me.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Wow. I just took the time to read thru the other comments.
E~ I feel your anger. I payed rent late this month. And I don’t have the money to get my cell phone taken care of, so I’m without a phone at all at the moment. By the way, I LOVE my cell phone, and the ringtones! What Americans lack is cell phone etiquette. The phones aren’t the problem at all.
June 15th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
This is my area Time Warner (roadrunner) is supposedly doing this in, yet I haven’t heard a peep from them, no literature, nothing. Wonder if they’re just gonna send me a big bill at the end of the month?
My internet bill is already $50 a month, how much more blood can they get from a turnip?
June 16th, 2008 at 1:28 am
All right. When we institute new laws banning cellphones I will put in a request for a special dispensation to carry a cellphone just for Cheryl Carroll. Just cause she’s a nice person and is well mannered and courteous.
Although the ringtones used will have to checked out by me first for approval. :)
June 16th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thanks, E. But you’ll be busy with your C.R.D.R.S. (Campaign to Rescind Della’s Right To Speak) to worry about which ringtone I’ve selected.
ha ha!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Just my luck your ringtone will be a recording of Della during Radio Graffiti.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
LOL LOL LOL !!!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
“Fair Access” or really shared misery imposed on all by the authorities?
Atlas Shrugged becomes reality.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:56 pm