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Paying for web access by the byte

j.les

Monkey
Jul 21, 2007
474
0
Chicago
The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes.
Then they should start charging all these couch potatoes for the amount of time they spend watching cable TV. Maybe then this country wouldn't be so FAAAAT.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I'm completely okay with this if the non-heavy user service goes down in price.

There is absolutely no legitimate reason why ISPs should not charge-as-you-go. It costs them more money as you go, why should it not be paid for by the user?

Unfortunately, I'm sure this will turn into an issue where they leave their prices the same, and just add on a surcharge for those heavy users - which is ridiculous.
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Unfortunately, I'm sure this will turn into an issue where they leave their prices the same, and just add on a surcharge for those heavy users - which is ridiculous.
I dunno, just market it as premium service packages and charge more to get more. They've already hurt themselves by announcing possible slow downs for some users.
 

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
Makes perfect sense to me. I like me some fast internets but I don't use it that often.
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
I am already on a Similar type of system , Verizon Fios , has 3 plans

5MBit down /2 Mbit up
15mb/5 mb
170Mb /30 MB
Thats the speed, but I think they are talking about total downloads over a month

In that trial, new customers can buy plans with a 5-gigabyte cap, a 20-gigabyte cap or a 40-gigabyte cap. Prices for those plans range from $30 to $50. Above the cap, customers pay $1 a gigabyte. Plans with higher caps come with faster service.
 

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
I thought d/load limits were the norm in the rest of the world. Certainly is in Australia.
Not here in Nippon thank christ, never will be either I'd say.
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
yes but limiting the speed, limits the bandwidth.
I think I catch what you’re saying….if they limit the pipe, you wouldn’t be able to download 20 gigs even if you were on around the clock?
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
My favorite bandwidth story is when I was working in the era of home modem use. The head of the PC department, who my personal rival, asked me about monitoring activity to the corporate firewall (controlled by the main office).

I mentioned that if you use a SSH tunnel, it would be impossible to see what was being downloaded, but that you could not hide how much bandwidth you use.

Fast forward 3 months later, this guy was fired. Apparently, he took my advice and used a SSH tunnel, but he downloaded so much pornography (probably with a bot), that he had other people doing his work. I believe his bot was downloading 24/7 for weeks.
 

DirtyDog

Gang probed by the Golden Banana
Aug 2, 2005
6,598
0
I'm completely okay with this if the non-heavy user service goes down in price.

There is absolutely no legitimate reason why ISPs should not charge-as-you-go. It costs them more money as you go, why should it not be paid for by the user?
I'd agree with this if part of the extra $$ they make was used to improve Internet infrastructure, improving service for all. However, as we know, these companies don't care about anything but profit. Meanwhile the US is falling behind in technologies that were essentially born here.
 

Austin Bike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 26, 2003
1,558
0
Duh, Austin
I'm fine with them charging people by the byte, as long as that means that for the 95% of us that aren't a problem would see lower bills.

But that will never happen.

And because of that I am against it. If doing this means more equitable billing then I am all for it, but I see this as a ploy to raise more revenue. Basically we'll see two programs: "unlimited downloads" and "even more unlimited downloads"

It will be stupid. If you give people unlimited bandwidth, you have to take it like a man when someone takes you up on it.