| Metered Billing is a very bad thing... ...because it would stifle the development of new technology and prevent many of the most exciting prospective uses of the internet - like HD movie downloads and videophones and software delivery.
Metered billing is an insidious threat, in its own way, just as critical as Net Neutrality.
The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. Soon all content - HD video, data and VoIP will come over one pipe.
When I hear assinine ideas like metered billing being tossed about, it only drives home the conclusion that Internet access is way to critical to leave in the hands of greedy private corporations.
How would it be if your electrical utility cut you off for over consumption? Or your sewer? (you crap too much!).
What we need is municipal broadband. Everywhere. Un-metered, un-filtered, and unlimited.
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He who hesitates is lost.
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 TechieZeroTools Are Using MePremium
join:2002-01-25
Gibsonton, FL
 ·Verizon FiOS
| said by mpelle4456:...What we need is municipal broadband. Everywhere. Un-metered, un-filtered, and unlimited. Yeah? Who's paying for that? You? I don't want to pay for everyone's luxury. |
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1 edit | reply to mpelle4456
said by mpelle4456:The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. You pay to use electric, and you pay to use water. While it would be nice to have the AC set at 71 all summer, most people don't do that to save money. Imagine if everyone paid a flat-rate for electric. Instead of you paying for what you use, the electric company divides the total electric bill by all the houses. Your bill would skyrocket! Why? Well first, there would be waste. People wouldn't worry about turning off lights, people would run their AC or heaters as hot or as cold as they want. Second, you would subsidize the heavy user.
Un-metered, un-filtered, unlimited internet for everyone in America would be very, very costly. Grandma checking her hotmail account would pay as much as that asshole who downloads over 100G a month in "Linux Distros", and that's not fair. Just like it wouldn't be fair for somebody living in a modest two bedroom home to pay the same electric bill as somebody living in a 7 bedroom big luxury home with a hot tub, theater room, and heated swimming pool. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | reply to mpelle4456
said by mpelle4456:The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. Soon all content - HD video, data and VoIP will come over one pipe. You do realize that those "essential" utilities are metered right?said by mpelle4456:How would it be if your electrical utility cut you off for over consumption? Or your sewer? (you crap too much!). You aren't going to get cut-off from any of those services. The point of metering bandwidth is that you won't get cut-off either (like you might now with ISPs that cap and/or throttle traffic), but you will pay more just like you do with your electricity and water.said by mpelle4456:What we need is municipal broadband. Everywhere. Un-metered, un-filtered, and unlimited. Not with my tax dollars you don't. |
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Reviews:
 ·Hargray Cable
| reply to TechieZero
said by TechieZero:said by mpelle4456:...What we need is municipal broadband. Everywhere. Un-metered, un-filtered, and unlimited. Yeah? Who's paying for that? You? I don't want to pay for everyone's luxury. You know when the gov't gets involved they're so good at business that costs always go down. |
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| reply to texans20
said by texans20:You pay to use electric, and you pay to use water. Yes, and I have total control over what I use. The electric company can't 'send' me additional electricity or install appliances that burn electricity just to do it. Same for my water company. If I don't turn it on, it doesn't get used.
Same can't be said for the Internet. I can just see it now. My ISP decides it needs additional revenue so they send me spam or add lots of advertising - or both. They have too much control over what I receive. Until I can totally control how many bytes I receive, metered internet billing is a bad idea. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Hypocrisy is great. I can easily turn your argument around and defend ISPs' usage of capping and traffic shaping techniques. The ISP is being billed for what you are using so they will take action to guarantee how many bytes you can receive and therefor control their expenses. |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to TKadlec
said by TKadlec:Yes, and I have total control over what I use. The electric company can't 'send' me additional electricity or install appliances that burn electricity just to do it. Same for my water company. If I don't turn it on, it doesn't get used. And while you're at work or on vacation I can use your gargen hose to fill my pool or use an outdoor extention cord and plug it in to your outdoor outlet. And unless you catch me YOU are stuck paying that bill. I can also tap into your phone line and run up your long distance bill quite easily. It's not like the phone company has locks on those boxes on the side of your house. |
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| reply to mpelle4456
I think metered billing addresses the over consumption problem. If you know there is a cost to all you can eat, maybe you won't take what you can't eat. If you do, then you will pay for it and not get cut off.
As far as stifling innovation, I disagree. Innovation must work within boundries and be efficient.
You use analogies like electricity, water, sewer. All of these have usage costs and perhaps bandwidth should as well.
The bits are not free to the ISP and if I use them, I should pay for them. |
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TechieZeroTools Are Using MePremium
join:2002-01-25
Gibsonton, FL
1 edit | reply to openbox9
Bleh bleh bleh.  |
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 ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3
 ·DSL EXTREME
| reply to mpelle4456
said by mpelle4456:The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. I can't remember the last time I *needed* internet. It's damn handy...but a necessity?
Sewage? You best damn believe I need to take a crap.
Electricity? Folks died in the last LA heatwave w/ brownouts, last I recall.
Water? Yeah...I'm attached to drinking.
I can live without 24/7 entertainment, information, and porn. I wouldn't want to, but I'm not about to shrivel up and die from a lack of it. (well, maybe the porn) |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | reply to TechieZero
Umm, you're misreading my post. We're making similar arguments in support of metered usage and other controlling mechanisms. |
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TechieZeroTools Are Using MePremium
join:2002-01-25
Gibsonton, FL | Ahhhhh. I apologize. This topic kills me. |
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| reply to BF69
said by BF69:And while you're at work or on vacation I can use your garden hose to fill my pool or use an outdoor extension cord and plug it in to your outdoor outlet. And just how does illegal activity apply here? You steal something and compare that to...what in this thread? |
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 knightmbEverybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN | reply to texans20
said by texans20:Imagine if everyone paid a flat-rate for electric. Instead of you paying for what you use, the electric company divides the total electric bill by all the houses. Your bill would skyrocket! Why? Well first, there would be waste. People wouldn't worry about turning off lights, people would run their AC or heaters as hot or as cold as they want. Second, you would subsidize the heavy user. Welcome to 21st century. Many places already do this, heck my own city has a flat rate on water. They round everyone to 3000 gallons and unless you use enough water to fill a lake, they won't charge extra. Electricity is the same way in apartments and home complex. They only charge those that have found a way to use some insane amount. I know plenty of people that keep their home 68 degrees in 100 degree summer heat because the electricity is flat rate. Just like they leave all the TV's on, lights on, etc. They also have the ability to take large baths every night with the flat rate water.
The utility companies are a bad example because there are many places that get "unlimited" service. Just like Comcast will cut you off for using some unknown large amount, the water company will cut you off for using 22,000 gallons of water in a month if you don't pay. |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to TKadlec
said by TKadlec:said by BF69:And while you're at work or on vacation I can use your garden hose to fill my pool or use an outdoor extension cord and plug it in to your outdoor outlet. And just how does illegal activity apply here? You steal something and compare that to...what in this thread? Um you said
"The electric company can't 'send' me additional electricity or install appliances that burn electricity just to do it. Same for my water company. If I don't turn it on, it doesn't get used."
Companies that install shit on your computer without your consent are doing something illegal. |
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ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| said by BF69:Companies that install shit on your computer without your consent are doing something illegal. And ISPs do this...how? |
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 djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
kudos:1
 ·Verizon Wireless..
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
 ·VOIPo
·PHONE POWER
| reply to mpelle4456
quote:
The Internet is fast on its way to becoming the most essential home utility - just as important as your lights or water or sewer. Soon all content - HD video, data and VoIP will come over one pipe.
That's the problem. Electricity and water are metered. Why not data? "Soon all content will come over one pipe"... So do you think the cable companies really want to lose all that TV revenue to a "flat $40/month" when all the TV comes flowing in over IP?
The telco DSL operators have enjoyed "locking" their users into having a POTS line for a long time. Cellular is what will keep AT&T and Verizon from becoming extinct dinosaurs.
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