Time Warner Links Web Prices With Usage: Initially horrifying as it may seem, this was kind of an inevitably, given the revolution of P2P and BitTorrent.
Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, […]
I’ve seen statistics that up to 75% of Net traffic is torrent-based. How long did you think it was going to be before some company got pissed about it? This is probably just a way to identify and slap fees on the bandwidth hogs.
This feel like back to the old days of CompuServe and Prodigy. Users were charged not only by how much time they spent online but how many posts (and in some cases e-mail received/sent). The online experience was nerve racking because you never knew when you were going to get carried away staying online and then charged an arm and leg for your "fun".
Interestingly, it was AOL's flat rate that lured customers away from service contracts of old.
"Bandwidth Hogs" is a meaningless, vicious term used by people to punish users who are simply doing what they thought they had paid for. If it's not unlimited, don't call it unlimited. I have accounts with companies that charge $15 for one service, and $25 for "unlimited". I pay for unlimited and get that very thing.
Cable companies, liars and cheats all, use terms like "Bandwidth Hog" like that's a bad thing, someone using the internet to their fullest, pulling in amazing things world wide. They can go to a spicy hell.
If it’s not unlimited, don’t call it unlimited.
But it is "unlimited," for now. You're not being punished, yet. You can download all you want as it sits -- go nuts.
When they start charging based on volume, then it will no longer be called "unlimited" and you will have no argument.
Completely missing my point. Yes, it's "unlimited" and actually unlimited for now (although as we all know the cable companies have been rate-limiting people in various jurisdictions for years now). I am merely contending your use of the phrase "bandwidth hog", as if someone using what they purchased is in some way making it "bad" for everyone else, or "ruining it".
I'll never let a cable company into my home. They're brutally dishonest creatures and rate-creep constantly. I'm all for tiered service in terms of speed and bandwidth and will buy "unlimited" from whatever company gives me that service (I currently use Speakeasy and Verizon). When they don't give me what I pay for, I will drop them, and I guarantee you I will find a company that does.
I concede your point about the term "bandwidth hog." I replace it with "prodigious user of bandwidth."
The internet is a shared connection by its design. There is no such thing as an unlimited internet connection. When one uses the internet for P2P transfers or online gaming they are actually borrowing their neighbors connection without permission.
