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Internet usage cap - Metered billing is a bad idea - ISP BandwidthBY: Jessica | Category: Technology and Computers | Post Date: 2008-06-12
Several internet service providers (ISP's) in United states are looking at charging heavy Internet users extra money, is it fair? Metered billing based on Internet usage and bandwidth is another pain comming our way, and unfortunately we are so dependent on internet that we will not be able to just disconnect out internet connection easily. When I heard this first time, I kind of thought that there is certainly massive infrastructure needed to power the internet which most of us do not realize. But as I started thinking more and more I really came to the conclusion that internet should be free from all caps even if tht top 5% of the internet users take up more than 35% of total bandwidth. Do you think it will stop to just 5% of the users, my guess is that this is just the beginning and we will see a more comprehensive tier-based system for all users in future. If it always stays to the top 5-10% percent of the users I am sort of fine, but there are still lot of questions which should be answered. What about the people who have internet and hardly use it, they are not given any credit or an option of a reduced bill for their low usage. My guess is that the lowest 25% Internet users do not use more than 5% of the total bandwidth. It is speculated that many cable companies and ISP's already have secret caps ( may be some have officially too) on the amount of data they permit their customers to download every month and it is just about to become official. Among the developed countries, United states already has high price of internet and low speeds when compared to most developed counties. The move to meter (or ration) the internet usage looks extremely bad to me. So what will be the next step, will they start charging companies like Yahoo and Google just because they have a high percentage of web users coming to their website. Internet should be left free and Cable companies/ISP's should not let users like you and me suffer for their corporate greed. Cable companies already post millions (probably billions) of dollars in profit and offer big salaries for their CEO's. Charging higher for higher internet users will further drive the profits of these corporations and their shareholders. The CEO's will probably be awarded a few million extra bucks for their great idea. It will not kill the internet but will certainly slow down it's growth. When I am surfing the internet I really do not want to think that how much many bytes I might have downloaded. What about the free Wi-Fi networks at your nearby coffee shop, may be you will have to pay an additional quarter (cents) to sip your coffee next time, as they will probably add a surcharge for the Wi-Fi service. What about the most non-technical people who do not have their home based wireless internet encrypted. If their neighbor decides download and watch a movie using their wireless network, who pays the bill. I can clearly see that introduction of caps for internet usage will increase internet theft big time. Programmers will write programs which allow hacking your neighbors internet secretly. That in turn will lead to more crimes like identity theft. Next time when you receive your wireless bill don't get shocked by looking those extra zeros, there may be wireless internet their or a hacker living next door or may be an error in the billing system of your ISP. They will most likely protect themselves by make you signing a disclaimer that you are solely responsible for your internet connection. I am sure that unlike your phone bill you will never be able to see which all sites you went and how much data you downloaded on each site. Would you go and fight your ISP that you never went to that site or even if you did, you did not download the amount of data shown on the bill? How about a pop-up "The page you are trying to view is 1 Mega Bytes in size - To see press Yes , otherwise press No". What a disaster it will be. What will happen when your Outlook express downloads big spam messages which you did not even intend to receive. May be next time if someone wants to annoy you, they will simply send you emails with big attachments. What about the internet phone companies like Vonage and Skype? Should we stop using internet based phones? Next time if you are having a video chat with your friend, family or your love, would you like to have an eye on the internet usage meter? Having a cap on internet usage is a big mistake, as there is no real way to tell who is using it and how much. I feel that the corporate greed of United States of America has reached new heights and people like us will eventually suffer. Unfortunately many of these cable companies/ISP have deep roots and have atleast some influence in the government. Should we all eventually suffer because of 5% of the people who use internet heavily ? Will it stop at the top 1-10% of the people needs to be seen. Update: (Reference - Businessweek, Nov, 2008) AT&T will soon limit downloads to 20 gigabytes per month for users at 768 kilobits per second ( their slowest DSL service). Then the maximum bandwidth usage limit gradually increases with the speed and cost of the plan. Comcast Corp., began a traffic limit of 250 gigabytes per subscriber last month. If you exceed they can cancel service after repeated warnings. Verizon Communications does not plan to limit downloads as of now. Time Warner Cable, is also planning limits as low as 5 GB per month for their cheapest plans. FairPoint Communications is also considering the same. Ref: www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9487NG00.htm Author's Disclaimer: Please understand, these are my personal thoughts, I may be wrong in many of the above statements but as of now I feel this way. This article for entertainment reading only and I cannot assure you if everything or anything written here is correct or not. Article Source: http://www.saching.com About Author / Additional Info: Additional Articles: * Why the English Premier League is Like No Other. By Fahman Rabbani * Flirt and love * Home remedies for Backache: Tips to get rid of Lower Back Pain problem * SELECTION OF FOOTWEAR * Structure of health care industry : Demand and supply Does this article violate or infringe on your copyright ? It is a violation of our terms for authors to submit content which they did not write and claim it as their own. If this article infringes on your copyrights, then use our Contact us form with the detailed proof of infringement along with the offending article's title, URL and writer name. If you do not hear back from us then contact us again in another 10 days. Thank you. Comments on this article: (0 comments so far) * Additional comments are now closed for this article *
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