ATT making plans to limit internet access time

ATT will shortly begin a test run to see whether they can get away with a new plan to severely restrict the downloading of information from the internet per month. There is currently no such restriction.

Unless I am missing something, this means that a user who is recording an internet stream using Replay A/V will be severely restricted (a number that I saw recently in ATT's announcement is something like 20 gigabytes per month) in their use of Replay A/V software. Of course, ATT will be glad to collect an additional sum of one dollar per gigabyte per month for anything over 20 gigabytes per month.

Think about it--and then start yelling at these people before they lock in a service scheme which all but puts serious Replay A/V users out of business. This of course assumes that the continuous recording of an internet streaming video or audio is metered by ATT the same as downloading a file from a web site.

I am seeking information at this early stage of the game about what these people (who have continued to demonstrate their ignorance of issues important to internet users) are up to and plan to do while your back is turned.

Don't let it happen. Can anyone shed any light on this issue?


Musikon

This is not a new idea and some ISPs have been doing it for years.

Is it right? I don't know? An ISP tries to deliver a package that covers the average user for that group. Then you have the bandwidth hogs in the group. It may be a family with a couple of kids. They are running P2P programs on every computer. Movies, games, music and other content are going 24 hours a day. The hogs may only be 10-15% of the group but they are driving up the cost for the ISP. (Yes, thoes bytes of data are not free, even for the ISP) The ISP then has to raise the package price for all in the group. Is that fair?

Lets look at the hog family again. Dad or mom, who ever purchased the package, figures they bought a package that meets their families needs. Many times they don't know what the kids are into. They soon find out when a capped ISP sends out the bill.

So is capping fair? I think the answer depends, on the type of user you are.

The internet is like a type of drug. We all want more and more. More speed, unlimited download bytes and lower cost.

Is there an answer? I think the first step would be for all ISPs to make their users aware of their monthly download compared to the average user in the group. I also think a better range of products would be helpful eg. A user who does very little downloading but wants the fastest speed possible.

Actually capping is nice compared to what some ISPs are suggesting. I can't believe this one but they want the user to state what sites they will be accessing and how much access (ie data) they need. Talk about control.

musikon, just switch to something better! Like Verizon/cox/Comcast...:)

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Originally Posted by MatthewC1000

musikon, just switch to something better! Like Verizon/cox/Comcast...:)

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That is a short term solution but in the end, we will all be faced with some kind of changes.

Every ISP has to pay backbone charges unless they run that segment of the backbone. If they run a backbone, they pay to maintain that part of the backbone infrastructure.

ATT is either the largest or one of the largest ISPs in the USA. Their example will set trends for other ISPs.

I fear the waters will get very murky. Some will not cap but limit connections, do speed throttling or progressive speed throttling.

You can run but you can't hide from what is coming.

This is a good read for a bit of insight into the lame thought process that is going on. I find the whole thing scary. We've made such big steps towards being a truly global community. This is a step back into the dark ages.

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Death of Free Internet is Imminent: Canada Will Be Test Case

Kevin Parkinson
Reality Check
July 22, 2008

In the last 15 years or so, as a society we have had access to more information than ever before in modern history because of the Internet. There are approximately 1 billion Internet users in the world and any one of these users can theoretically communicate in real time with any other on the planet.

In the upcoming weeks watch for a report in Time Magazine that will attempt to smooth over the rough edges of a diabolical plot by Bell Canada and Telus, to begin charging per site fees on most Internet sites. The plan is to convert the Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for specific web sites, and then pay to visit sites beyond a cutoff point.

The Internet has been the greatest technological achievement of the 20th century by far, and has been recognized as such by the global community. The free transfer of information, uncensored, unlimited and untainted, still seems to be a dream when you think about it. Whatever field that is mentioned- education, commerce, government, news, entertainment, politics and countless other areas- have been radically affected by the introduction of the Internet.

And mostly, it’s good news, except when poor judgements are made and people are taken advantage of. Scrutiny and oversight are needed, especially where children are involved. However, when there are potential profits open to a corporation, the needs of society don’t count.

Take the recent case in Canada with the behemoths, Telus and Rogers rolling out a charge for text messaging without any warning to the public. It was an arrogant and risky move for the telecommunications giants because it backfired. People actually used Internet technology to deliver a loud and clear message to these companies and that was to scrap the extra charge. The people used the power of the Internet against the big boys and the little guys won.

However, the issue of text messaging is just a tiny blip on the radar screens of Telus and another company, Bell Canada, the two largest Internet Service Providers (ISP’S) in Canada. Our country is being used as a test case to drastically change the delivery of Internet service forever. The change will be so radical that it has the potential to send us back to the horse and buggy days of information sharing and access.

In the upcoming weeks watch for a report in Time Magazine that will attempt to smooth over the rough edges of a diabolical plot by Bell Canada and Telus, to begin charging per site fees on most Internet sites. The plan is to convert the Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for specific web sites, and then pay to visit sites beyond a cutoff point.

From my browsing (on the currently free Internet) I have discovered that the ‘demise’ of the free Internet is slated for 2010 in Canada, and two years later around the world. Canada is seen a good choice to implement such shameful and sinister changes, since Canadians are viewed as being laissez fair, politically uninformed and an easy target.

The corporate marauders will iron out the wrinkles in Canada and then spring the new, castrated version of the Internet on the rest of the world, probably with little fanfare, except for some dire warnings about the ‘evil’ of the Internet (free) and the CEO’s spouting about ’safety and security’. These buzzwords usually work pretty well.

What will the Internet look like in Canada in 2010? I suspect that the ISP’s will provide a “package” program as companies like Cogeco currently do. Customers will pay for a series of websites as they do now for their television stations. Television stations will be available on-line as part of these packages, which will make the networks happy since they have lost much of the younger market which are surfing and chatting on their computers in the evening. However, as is the case with cable television now, if you choose something that is not part of the package, you know what happens. You pay extra.

And this is where the Internet (free) as we know it will suffer almost immediate, economic strangulation. Thousands and thousands of Internet sites will not be part of the package so users will have to pay extra to visit those sites! In just an hour or two it is possible to easily visit 20-30 sites or more while looking for information. Just imagine how high these costs will be.

At present, the world condemns China because that country restricts certain websites. “They are undemocratic; they are removing people’s freedom; they don’t respect individual rights; they are censoring information,” are some of the comments we hear. But what Bell Canada and Telus have planned for Canadians is much worse than that. They are planning the death of the Internet (free) as we know it, and I expect they’ll be hardly a whimper from Canadians.

It’s all part of the corporate plan for a New World Order and virtually a masterstroke that will lead to the creation of billions and billions of dollars of corporate profit at the expense of the working and middle classes. There are so many other implications as a result of these changes, far too many to elaborate on here.

Be aware that we will all lose our privacy because all websites will be tracked as part of the billing procedure, and we will be literally cut off from 90% of the information that we can access today. The little guys on the Net will fall likes flies; Bloggers and small website operators will die a quick death because people will not pay to go to their sites and read their pages. Ironically, the only medium that can save us is the one we are trying to save- the Internet (free).

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I cut out the rest because there are URLs and I'm not sure if their posting is allowed.

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Originally Posted by musikon

ATT will shortly begin a test run to see whether they can get away with a new plan to severely restrict the downloading of information from the internet per month. There is currently no such restriction.
Musikon

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Someone in the thread suggested other big telecom companies as alternatives. Bad idea! They are all going in that direction. Comcast has already put the monthly cap policy into effect. The big companies tend to treat their customer base as cattle. You get herded into a pen. (And you never know when it's your turn to enter the slaughterhouse. :eek:)

The wisest idea is to go with an independent ISP that contracts with Covad or another backbone provider. (Sometimes it turns out to be AT&T behind the scenes. That's OK if you have no choice but I personally prefer having Covad as the underlying network because they aren't going to get as devious as fast as the bigger traditional telecom companies.)

One other benefit I discovered by switching away from the big companies: the independents often provide a range of higher bandwidth services than the telecoms want to offer you. Of course this depends on your distance from the nearest switching center. When I lived in central San Francisco I had a 4Mb service that was rock solid.

The first ISP I can recommend without reservations is DSLextreme. In the past I used Cyberonic which was highly reliable in my previous location but DSLextreme has superior tech support in the rare cases you'll need it.

You can research others by going to the fabulous DSLreports site:
http://www.dslreports.com/

Start by looking at the Just Reviewed.. section on the upper right of the home page. Look at customer reviews and fish around for historical comments.

If you don't have the inclination to do the research, go ahead with DSLextreme if they are available in your area.

Can you let us know what you ultimately do about your broadband supplier?

From what I hear, 20gb is about the size of playing/recording 30 full length dvd's. And as of now, they're only testing for certain regions. In my opinion, it would be bad publicity for many of the providers to do this, as streaming sites such as youtube, hulu etc are VERY popular today. More recently, even netflix allows you to STREAM unlimited movies per month now, you could EASILY watch 20gb of videos alone just by watching one movie per night on your computer.

I for one, would switch providers if they did that to me, and i'm sure thousands others are the same...so hopefully that won't happen on a widespread basis.

Just my 2 cents, not speaking of behalf of applian.

Also, moving post to General Discussion.