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Oregon ISP Now Forcing Cordcutters to Sign up For TV to Avoid Caps (dslreports.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Oregon ISP BendBroadband has revised its usage-based broadband policies to favor customers that subscribe to TV services as well. According to a blog post by the company, Bend is deploying a number of new speed upgrades, including new Ultra 50, Ultra 100 and Ultra 300 Mbps speed tiers. The company is telling users on its Bronze and Silver Internet plans that they should be eligible for a free upgrade later this month. But another post adds a different wrinkle: Bend says it's removing its current usage caps if you bundle TV and phone service. These caps have historically ranged from 150 to 500 GB. "Customers who subscribe to Bronze or above internet (including Silver, Gold and Platinum) and Essentials or above TV (including Preferred, Preferred Plus and The Works) are no longer limited on data usage and will no longer pay overage fees," says the company.The report cites similar practices by other ISPs, suggesting that it's quickly becoming an industry standard.
The country with the actual claim to inventing the internet has one of the shittest internets. If any ISP around here even thought of having a cap on anything but the most basic of service they'd be laughed right out of business.
USA is amazingly backward in oh so many ways... except the military. Great military, shitty everything else.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
I expect that soon cable companies will just increase the price of internet service by the amount a basic tv subscription costs and say that basic tv service is "free" with an internet plan.
Don't want tv? Fine, but it won't lower your bill.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Wow, they're not even hiding it or lying about it anymore. Remember when the caps used to be about "congestion?" Now the truth is explicitly admitted. Everyone, before you lose your cool over this, think. This really is progress. We've reached the point in "LA Story" where the someone is politely told, "Hi. My name is Bob. I'll be your robber." No subterfuge, denial, etc. It's out in the open.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.