Jason

In the early years of the Internet, the more time people spent online, the more they paid a provider like AOL for their connection. But as customers have shifted to always-on broadband services, many Web surfers have enjoyed all-you-can-eat Internet for a flat rate.

Some cable and telecommunications providers are trying to turn back the clock and return to usage-based pricing for Internet connections. Carriers including AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. say they may have to switch amid a surge in Internet traffic as more people go online to watch videos and download movies.

Recent efforts to introduce usage-based, or metered, broadband services have met stiff resistance from consumers. But a new push by the federal government to adopt rules that would force Internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally, no matter how much bandwidth they take up, could give ammunition to the broadband providers that want to change how they charge for Web access, Internet experts and consumer advocates say.

"This could come down to carriers saying, 'If you don't allow us to manage our networks the way we see fit, then we will just have to cap everything,' " says Phillip Dampier, a consumer advocate focusing on technology issues in Rochester, N.Y. "They'll make it an either/or thing: give them more control over their network or expect metered broadband."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...228258540.html

Phædrus2401

Oh ****.



People forget that the internet is not free, especially some of the Linux goffs and the romantics dribbling about how the internet will free the human spirit and ingenuity and blah blah blah. They forget that the internet is provided by companies, and these companies have a vested interest in money.

ebackhus

Time Warner Cable WAS eyeing consumption based billing (CBB) but we backed off after the backlash that followed it.