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DampierPhillip M Dampier
join:2003-03-23
Rochester, NY | StopTheCap Invites You to Join the Fight We have already managed to draw a lot of attention to the cap issue, particularly at Frontier. We're now getting organized to pursue the next level of this fight - getting politicians involved.
Consumers upset about the usage cap need to come together in a unified effort to fight this. Getting a lot of negative attention on this issue before caps are widespread will defeat them far easier than fighting something already in place.
If you want on the temporary mailing list to let you know when you can formally register on the site, just visit »www.stopthecap.com and leave a message (click Contact).
Frontier has been forced to hold back because of the outcry by customers upset about the cap, so you guys ARE making an impact. We also have a shot with Time Warner, and in September we're going to be focusing a lot on them before the Beaumont "test" becomes the nation's reality.
We're also going to build a list of competing ISPs in different areas that do not have usage caps, and help people find alternatives to capped ISPs as long as we can find them.
Be sure to also read our Talking Points. A number of people have already been suckered into the industry position that broadband Internet is somehow equivalent to mobile phones or electricity. Frankly, it's really not. With broadband wholesale costs declining, not increasing, your service should not be capped, and should actually be declining in price.
And for those that want a-la-carte, we have no objection to that concept as long as the existing flat rate plans remain in place. But no ISP wants to do that. Instead, they propose charging you up to $10.80 per gigabyte for the first five gigabytes, and then at least $1 for each additional gigabyte. What does it really cost them? Less than 10 cents. If you think paying up to $50 a month for five gigabytes and $1 for each additional gigabyte is fair pricing, you are being suckered.
A nationwide blanket of usage caps will dramatically impact on what you can actually do online. Gone will be most streaming video services, as investment dries up because of consumer resistance to high bandwidth applications. Online backup services will be devastated. No broadband delivery of movies or exceptionally high quality music. What venture capitalist will finance the web applications of the future that require bandwidth when consumers face caps as low as 5GB per month.
We might as well turn Gopher back on and stick to that.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE of a bandwidth crisis in the USA. Just a industry-funded lobbying effort with well-connected businesses who have a dog in the fight claiming there is. We've challenged any ISP to provide independent evidence of a bandwidth crisis. Every last one refuses to provide any independently verified evidence of their claims because it is a "trade secret." We got some internal documents ourselves that proved our position on the matter. This is an effort to increase shareholder value, profits, and cut infrastructure costs because of a difficult economy and excessively competitive video and telephony marketplace. Broadband will make up the difference by charging you more for less.
And in most cities, there are just two providers. Competition cannot easily exist in this industry because the delivery systems are not easily constructed. Where competition itself is restricted, a de facto duopoly becomes established and customers will pay, pay, and pay some more.
Raising a chorus of protest now helps assure broadband usage caps could easily go the way of Comcast's torrent throttling. | |
fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | said by Dampier:We have already managed to draw a lot of attention to the cap issue, particularly at Frontier. We're now getting organized to pursue the next level of this fight - getting politicians involved. Consumers upset about the usage cap need to come together in a unified effort to fight this. Are you kidding with this? This isn't a fight.. this isn't organizing.. this isn't anything. It's a bunch of people, who feel entitled to everything, coming here to bitch, moan, and piss about having to pay for something they want to use so much of.
This isn't organizing any kind of fight. A pissy message posted on a message board isn't a unified effort. What is, is an organized letter writing campaign, it's going to your reps office.. it's marching and bringing people out to the street.. it's organizing events and calling media attention..
.. this, no.. it's a bunch of people bitching on line - no matter how you try to spin it.
If you or anyone here thinks this is an organized effort, then you've never had to fight to change anything before in your life. | |
wentlancYou Can't Fix Dumb..
join:2003-07-30
Maineville, OH | You are more than welcome to step up and lead, or quit your own bitching and moaning.
cw | |
fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | said by wentlanc:You are more than welcome to step up and lead, or quit your own bitching and moaning. cw It's not my fight.. personally, I don't see a fight to be had.. what I see, as you said, is a bunch of people bitching and moaning..
I'd love Penn and Teller to do an episode about BBR.. it would be hilarious.
And for the record.. he put it out there, it's open for comment.. I did. Get over it. | |
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