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Will Cable Unplug the File Swappers?
netringer writes "The cable companies are planning to give the RIAA's case a hand and limit P2P file swapping. Yahoo has the Business Week story that cable companies are considering going away from the flat rate pricing model for cable Internet access. They plan to set a lower bandwidth cap for the flat rate and the raise the rates for bandwidth hogs who exceed the cap."
(begins downloading all the ISO's he'll ever use before they start charging extra)
One bad apple spoils the whole damn bunch.
I have been pwned because my
*Note: This assumes that All You Can Eat Bandwidth goes away, and all Internet traffic becomes "metered" much like electricity, water, etc.
The Good News: Spam cuts down as companies realize they can't afford the bandwidth costs compared to the income.
The Bad News: There's still enough out there that you're charged an extra $5 just to download your mail. Oh, and that time you friend who uses Outlook got that virus? Yup - another $5.
The Good News: With bandwidth metering, idiot people who only only posts trolls stop since their hobby of annoying people for fun is now costing them.
The Bad News: The opinions of many are cut off as they weight their voice against their speech.
The Good News: Sites with way too many graphics, Flash animations, bangs and whistles become less popular, and become nice, clean, quick interfaces. True HTML 4.0 compliance becomes key since you can't just program client side "if browser==this display this".
The Bad News: So much for seeing new screenshots of Star Wars Episode III: Portman Naked and Petrified
The Good News: The Demo Disk industry truly takes off, since to be able to just download 200 - 300 MB demo's of games, software, etc costs too much. Game demos that used to be 400 MB in size are cut down to just 25 MB - just about downloadable.
The Bad News: Now you have to wait at least a week to try out Doom III: Demons in Love.
The Good News: The RIAA and MPAA shut the fuck up about how people are stealing music and videos. The whole CD protection bandwagon is killed off since there's no more fear that people will download music over the Internet, since that would cost as much as the CD anyway.
The Bad News: The whole idea of a legal MP3 music sale system for both established and new artists dies out. We are doomed to forever listen to Britney Spear's latest song, "Knock me around because I did it again".
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Well i'm not sure how raising prices and charging per Gbit a month will help the RIAA. I pay $50 a month for my cable ISP. If I download say 25 albums and they charge me what 20-30 dollars more a month for that usage.. I STILl am ahead! An album costs $17.99 or so on average. If I pay 25 bucks and get 25 albums, WHY would I go BACK to the record store? I am still getting a hell of a deal right?
The 1% of users use 16% of bandwidth?
Anyone try telling these greedy Cable people that 1% of the US population controls 90% of its wealth? Think about that before you complain about bandwidth.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
The rip-off is that the first hit wasn't free. Most dealers will at least give you that first hit for free.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
Oh yea, they already pay by the drink!
Chris
Hey I got an idea, why dont I decide what I want to pay for. Instead of 600 channels of crap they push down my throat for $60 a month, why dont I pay $20 a month for 10 channels i actually watch. Then with all that freed up bandwidth I can download all the shit I want. You know whats a damn bandwidth hog, fucking Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O'Donnel. Yeah and all that other crap they show in the morning. And the fucking O'Reilly factor on fucking Fox News. Why dont they start capping that shit and charge the idiots who watch that crap. Yeah and fucking Shaq, his huge ass sucks up prolly all the bandwidth I need. Why dont the damn refs call some goddamn fouls. Its not like he has talent or anything he's a goddamn freak of nature. Ahh sorry i got a little sidetracked there.
The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend