Congressman Unveils Bill to Fight ISP Caps
If you thought that the debacle over ISP net caps was just starting to boil, then you'll be even more surprised to hear that the issue has now landed on the front doors of Congress.
New York Congressman Eric Massa (D-NY) promised that he would put forth a bill called the "Broadband Internet Fairness Act" that would "prevent job killing broadband internet downloading caps," said Massa.
Time Warner Cabe is at the forefront of this heated issue. Because of a roll-out in New York state, many customers in the area have already canceled their TWC accounts and moved onto other services.
According to Massa:
"Time Warner has announced an ill-conceived plan to charge residential and business broadband fees based on the amount of data they download. They have yet to explain how increased internet usage increases their costs."
While Massa is all for business profits, he is against TWC and others like it, especially in areas where the ISP holds a monopoly position.
"Time Warner's decision has the potential to more than triple customers' current rates and I think most families will find this to be too taxing to afford. Time Warner believes they can do this in Rochester NY, Greensboro NC, Austin TX and San Antonio TX, and it's almost certainly just a matter of time before they attempt to overcharge all of their customers. And while I favor a business's right to maximize their profit potential, I believe safeguards must be put in place when a business has a monopoly on a specific region," said Massa.
TWC, AT&T and Comcast and other ISPs are the target of the new bill.
Massa's page on the issue stats:
"In addition to this excessive and disproportionate charge, as internet usage increases by an average of 50% per year, companies setting caps sets a horrible, long-term, precedent. At a time when Americans need to utilize all available assets to improve the economy, limiting internet usage, which this plan would do, handicaps our ability to compete on the global stage. Furthermore, it will have significant stifling effects on start ups and small businesses."
My point is that caps suck balls. There's no two ways about it. I just wonder if it's a government issue. One way for TWC to get rid of the cap idea is for users to switch providers. That'll make more noise than anything.
I don't know. Just thinking out loud. I'd just hate to see a bill two years from now regulating something with the net now that the door might be open to federal regulations. The last thing we need is the FCC wondering if they can get their hands on the internet.
But yeah, caps suck. I'm just nervous.
Take the licence from TWC. we do not need stupid ideas which will drag US backwards.
SOmeone throw shoe size 10 to TWC CEO, please. or hack their system and let their system fried
Take the licence from TWC. we do not need stupid ideas which will drag US backwards.
SOmeone throw shoe size 10 to TWC CEO, please. or hack their system and let their system fried
or maybe he's just faking it to offset the fact that he's taking huge amount of money from the companies he's now looking to regulate...
Even better, I want a cable company to explain to me how reducing the total amount of data downloaded in a month helps the problem of not having enough bandwidth at any given moment. Even if everyone had a 5GB cap, if they all chose to download at the same time, it wouldn't solve anything, there would still be bottle necks. Its not total usage over time, its total usage at any given moment.
My point is that caps suck balls. There's no two ways about it. I just wonder if it's a government issue. One way for TWC to get rid of the cap idea is for users to switch providers. That'll make more noise than anything.
I don't know. Just thinking out loud. I'd just hate to see a bill two years from now regulating something with the net now that the door might be open to federal regulations. The last thing we need is the FCC wondering if they can get their hands on the internet.
But yeah, caps suck. I'm just nervous.
The problem is that in some areas there is no other choice for broadband internet. I only have the choice of 1.5 Mbit DSL or 10 Mbit Cable. This, I hope, will help keep any company from overchargeing for their service.
Where I live I have ONE cable option and ONE dsl option. They both overcharge for 1.5meg service. That sucks. Where's the competition?
ok sounds good, what if twc is the only broadband service around. what then do they get to charge as much as they want. what happens to the citizens, do they have to move out of the area.
the reason that government gets to have an input is because they companies have made deals with the local governments which have allowed them to exclusively control areas of the country without competition.
i know of towns where they have even made it hard to install dishes which competes against the cable companies that the town has struct a franchise with.
then again we have the best government money can buy...
The U.S. government dosen't have the best track record with "solving problems" and not screwing the average citizen in the process.
They in turn would have many locations so downloading is not a problem.
I guess TW didn't feel like paying the local station (that actually aired the game), because people could still watch the game for free anyways over the antenna, big difference was in the signal quality!
TW ended up paying for the station again after a few weeks of bleeding customers. Seems like they haven't learned their lesson.
Even though I canceled their TV service, I still have them as an ISP. Now I am ready to switch off of them completely as soon as FiOS is available.