Read this article about the recent announcement Time Warner Cable has made to its customers in selected parts of Texas, North Carolina and New York.
Time Warner Cable plans to announce a 40 GB cap to Internet to customers in selected areas. To put this into perspective 40GB is about the amount of watching 9 hours of high definition video online. This may seem like a lot but for customers who download music, surf the internet regularly on multiple computers or play Xbox/playstation on line, it is not a lot of content allowed to be downloaded. Customers who go over will be charged an additional $1 for each GB they go over.
Because this is such a new story it will be interesting to see how the how the company will react when the public begins its backlash. Is this censoring of the amount of information ISP's are sending the beginning of an even bigger issue of net neutrality as we discussed in class? Should TWC be allowed to charge their customers in this mannor? Should there be a law against it or should the free market reign over issues such as these...?
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I did read this, and saw an interesting blog post on how much, exactly, we can do in 40 GB.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of this horrendous, especially considering the corporations themselves are trying to get us on the internet more! By offering streaming shows, networks encourage people to go to their sites. By providing more and more legal ways of getting media, we're being encouraged to move online.
So then to try to cap people at such a low rate?
Mind you, I rarely approach my 60GB limit with my account (and only once did I go over 40)... but still. It's the principle of the matter!
I don't think TWC should be allowed to charge their customers but it is not surprising. Huge media conglomerates are always looking for new ways to make just a little more money and especially in today's economic situation. As this story gets bigger and more people are affected I am sure there is going to be a huge backlash. People love the idea of surfing the web as much as they want and the people will not take nicely to a price change.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to see how this story unfolds.