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Have You Fought Your ISP Over Bandwidth Limits?
serutan asks: "Recently, a DC++-related mailing list I subscribe to has been buzzing with posts about letters from various ISPs in the U.S., UK, Australia and NZ, warning customers to curtail their download bandwidth usage to an 'acceptable' limit (generally 200 hours/month for three straight months). These are people who thought they signed up for unlimited access. Some of the letters hint that high bandwidth usage may imply illicit activity. All are vague on possible consequences, and nobody has mentioned actually being cut off by an ISP. One guy received an apology after talking to a supervisor about the meaning of the word 'unlimited.' Is this a growing trend? Have you received similar threats from an ISP? What was the outcome?" Of course, would it be so difficult for ISPs to stop advertising "unlimited" access, and instead include in the small (or not-so small) print exactly what the "acceptable" bandwidth usage is? If you did sign up for "unlimited" services and find yourself in this predicament, what have you done to get your bandwidth issues resolved?
It's more like a communal water tank. One with a sign that say "take all the water you want!". And then they ban you from using it when you take a lot of water.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I'm paying for 384/128 and they're giving me 2M/384. And I use it.
The main thing companies seem to want is for people to pay for 'unlimited' services/food/etc... and then not use them.
Bingo.
TANSTAAFL*. If someone overuses, someone else has to underuse to pay for that person's usage. All-you-can-eat and other unmetered goods and services depend on this. If not enought people underuse, they can't afford to keep providing the good or service under those conditions.
Gym memberships are a classic case. They tend to be cheap... $10-20 per month. But they count on only a very small percentage of the membership using the services each day. If suddenly 75% of their members started working out regularly, they wouldn't be able to afford to stay in business.
We all subsidize each other. Someone's mom down the street who feels very tech-savvy when she downloads the photos of her grandkids is paying for much more service than she's using, because her neighbor's 13-year-old is busy downloading the latest warez from his friends. When the demographics start shifting, such that more people are on the high end of usage, this business model starts to fall apart.
* "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." See Heinlein.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?