Time Warner Cable Tries 'Metering' Internet Usage!

Time Warner Cable Tries 'Metering' Internet Usage!

news.yahoo.com

NEW YORK - You're used to paying extra if you use up your cell phone minutes, but will you be willing to pay extra if your home computer goes over its Internet allowance?

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Time Warner Cable Inc. customers — and, later, others — may have to, if the company's test of metered Internet access is successful.

On Thursday, new Time Warner Cable Internet subscribers in Beaumont, Texas, will have monthly allowances for the amount of data they upload and download. Those who go over will be charged $1 per gigabyte, a Time Warner Cable executive told the Associated Press.

(visit the link for the full news article)

UH-OHH...I see a pattern starting to develope here that WE ALL better be paying VERY close attention to...

Just recently, I disclosed a thread stating how the FCC was proposing offering a "free" internet program, as long as it was CENSORED...

Now, within a weeks time of that, this comes up...I smell the stench of initial roadblocks and freedom of the internet beginning here...


news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3/6/2008 by Mirthful Me]

source

Its already a reality in Ontario.

I've received a pop up message the last 2 months from Rogers that I am very close to going over my limit for the month.

I'm not happy about the extra charge but at least they give me a heads up!

"I believe this will be the first time that this has been done in North America," said Ted Rogers, the company's CEO, during a meeting with reporters yesterday. Rogers has already introduced usage caps on its various tiers of home Internet service, which have traditionally been priced in Canada as all-you-can eat services, albeit with varying levels of download speeds. Exceeding the caps will trigger extra charges.

Well there is the old saying "vote with your feet"

If your not happy show your displeasure now by getting a better deal, sooner rather than later cos once this is the norm rather than the exception it will be impossible to go back - capitalism is a game of to and fro.

Mind you 250Gig per month seems about right for 80% of home users at the moment, in the near future though that will seem increasingly tight - and $1 per Gig over (50 pence to me) don't seem excessive so long as your warned when charges are due to kick in - so you can pause all your illegal film downloads for the time being

reply to post by Tuebor


What makes this extra alarming here is all the talk we've had of the internet being used as an "enemy weapon system", and folks like Joe Lieberman calling for censorship and trying to ram through the "homegrown terrorist" act.

Now, as this country sinks into the financial abyss, and people are struggling just to drive back and forth to work and eat, they are proposing THIS...Coincidental Timing? THEY are going to implement control to the internet through FINANCIAL means! People will be forced out of doing the research and learning due to cost!

These pirates have to have a screw loose if they think paying $44 bucks is not enough for a service that already is flakey and slow. Charge those who get internet for $12.99 to 29.99 the extra bandwidth charges.

The nerve of these pirates now days. Seems everyone wants in on the consumer scam we see happening before our very eyes.

This is outrageous!! Think of all the people who spend all day on youtube or other streaming video websites, they use up a LOT of bandwidth. Also, some web pages these days use up quite a staggering amount just from browsing them. Torrent programs and p2p networking is another thing that will suffer if this passes, most people allow their computers to constantly upload in order for other users to get better download speeds - this will soon be a thing of the past.

Some of the biggest bandwidth usages for me are :

- HTTP and FTP server
- P2P Networking
- BitTorrent Clients
- YouTube, and other streaming video websites
- Distributed Computing
- Direct2Drive game downloads
- Transferring backups over TCP/IP to other computers

These will all become things of the past if my bandwidth was ever limited, sadly. I am not sure how much online gaming takes up, but I am sure some of these newer games use quite a bit due to the large amounts of players and content needed to keep track of. I really hope this does not happen.

How soon before them WHORES attach a meter to our face

so we can get charged for the air we breathe on their planet???!!!...............

We have a DSL connection, with two computers connected to it. These machines are heavily used by my family. I have know earthly idea how much bandwith we use on a regular basis. How could we even go about finding this out?

My company (gci a local company) had the metered stuff before I think I had a limit of 5gb at the time and it was I believe $10 each GB you were over. But they switched to unlimited which I guess most places are anyway. It sucks but take a look at their packages there might be a free limit one but it'll cost ya.

If they're going to tax heavy hitters, how about giving breaks to people who use less. After all they're doing this so they can sell more bandwidth to more users and lite users allow them to sell more.

Maybe those users can keep track of all the advertisements their forced to look at and charge all the advertisers for the extra bandwidth they take.

I always wish the cable companies would charge for how much time you watch tv instead of how many choices you have.

I have the best solution to internet censorship I've heard yet, it's a bit radical so get ready......


We should all stop using the internet.


I don't say that lightly either. I was a wire head all the way, I spent more time online than I did doing anything else everyday and that includes sleeping for years. I had loads of friends online, I played games, made websites, spent A LOT of time on ATS, posted artwork and even made a few grand online.

However, recently my laptop died, I no longer had unrestrained personal access to the internet. I thought I would go into withdrawl, I thought I would lose my mind with out the computer. To some extent it did take some time getting used to the analog life but eventually I realized that it was nicer without the internet.

Pretty much every aspect of my life is better since I lost my internets and frankly I don't really miss it much at all. I don't think the internet is as great and as useful as everyone makes it out to seem. I think that at least 80% of what people do online could be termed recreation and even seemingly productive internet activities often have little or no impact in your real life.

I won't go on and on, I'm typing this on someone else's computer. Just try it for a month or two, give up the internet, who needs it? Has it ever really truly helped to benefit your real life? Wouldn't you have deeper relationships with people if you were forced to make real life contact with them? The internet is really nothing more than a distraction to the vast majority of it's users.

PS I could be wrong but isn't 250 gigs (possibly bigger than your HD) of bandwidth a month kind of a lot for the majority of people just surfing the web and doing a few other things? I would think if you were consuming much more bandwidth than that you were downloading a lot of large files like ILLEGAL movies, music and programs lol

Well Americans, lets start our own Internet Screw those Corp- PIGS.
We all can start from dail-up just like the good old days , till We grow bigger.

I would call it THRUTH INTERNET!

We The People would not let mainstream media have any part of this.
TV News is spun full of lies I dont watch it anymore.
when I saw what the media did to our election, and out right lied about Ron Paul dropping out of the race for running for President I then knew the media was full of it.
Thats the day I shut off TV news. The media can not be trusted any more.


I do go on the internet every day to find out what is going on around the world.
I also come to ATS every day for updates, of course I do have to weed through some garbage some times, but that ok I do trust this site.
I have learn so much from here, and reading alot of the debates, and checking thier sources.
This site has open my eyes and my mind.
Alot of good people here, I feel at home here.

But lets remember let the greedy corp choke on there greed, it will crash
when people have had enough.

It's just another way for a company to price itself out of business.
GOOD move Comcast!

If widely adopted, usage caps will threaten the dissemination of information. I'm reminded of all the informative clips I see on a daily basis here at ATS. If I had to weigh the potential of each clip against my bandwidth ration, I may choose to forgo viewing many of them.

Ultimately, it would lessen my exposure to new and important information.

On the other hand, as long as there exist providers who are willing to provide unlimited bandwidth to their users, they will enjoy a large subscriber base. Perhaps the market forces will solve this threat on their own.

Originally posted by Tuebor
source

Its already a reality in Ontario.

I've received a pop up message the last 2 months from Rogers that I am very close to going over my limit for the month.

I'm not happy about the extra charge but at least they give me a heads up!

In Alberta, Telus has had this since they brought in DSL. $1/Gb is actually a really good price we were being charged close to $50/Gb at one point, my parents were none to happy about some of those bills.

reply to post by Shadowflux




I hear ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just imagine how we could also affect what we see on teevee if we ALL did the same thing, turn off the set.

The truth is, we're dealing with whores,

who'll sell out their own mother for a buck and

they don't care what you or I think,

because they know that nobody will do it....or at least they've been right so far.



Too bad too, because we as a group

could have the enemy by the balls, if we stuck together

instead of the other way around, like it is right now.

[edit on 3-6-2008 by toasted]

I have 3 computers and a laptop networked in my home with 4 or more users at any time. I wouldn't possibly be able to keep up with this metering business.

I love the internet and would miss it terribly, but I am prepared to cut it off the day they start this in my area. I suppose my children would have to use the computers at school or the library for homework. I lived 35 years without the internet, I would adjust once again to life without it. The kids, on the other hand, would lose their minds.

I recently gave up all cable news and I don't miss it one bit. Hopefully the government won't take away my books. Now that would cause me to load a weapon for sure.

Australia does not have unlimited internet access outside of dial-up.

We have caps and data fees only. Rudd was looking to give us unlimited high speed broadband but now it seems he doesn't want that.

Good to see the world trying to join Australia in having no highspeed (ADSL or above) internet access that's unlimited.

[edit on 3-6-2008 by ixnay]

If this happens simply move on to another company, show them we won't take it. If other companies do it, I'm prepared to stop internet all together and use a internet cafe until they decide to go back to the way it was before.