AT&T/Comcast Consider Aussie-Style Bandwidth Caps

LazySiow writes "Having looked at Australia's pioneering efforts in cappedband services, AT&T Broadband and Comcast are considering applying download caps of their own. Since the two approved a merger proposal last week, they will be the largest broadband provider in the States, and will not only affect a large percentage of of users, it will set a large and potentially unstoppable precedent for caps all around the country."

Be Proactive...

[Yousef]

If they cap your bandwidth, you should simply "cap" them... Knee-Caps are usually a nice target...

AOL

[OrangeSpyderMan]

lameness_filter=0

I thought AOL already imposed CAPS ON THEIR USERS :-)

Now what am we gonna do?

[Anonymous Coward]

Gonna have to pick between latest red hat download OR all the pron and pirated movies.

Pr0nto!

[p00p5m1th]

Salvage all the pr0n you can find! The end in nigh!

Obviously...

[p00p5m1th]

Caps are easy to turn off. It's the third button up on the left hand side. It's 'Stickey Keys' you gotta watch out for.

Re:AOL

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, dunce caps.

Re:*never* going to happen

[Jon Peterson]

*News Flash* *News Flash* *News Flash*

Oh my God - This just in:

20 something American saw cool lifestyle portrayed in T.V. add - now pissed that reality is not the same.

I'm really crying for you buddy, oh yeah.

Re:Vote with your Dollar!!!

[Kibo]

Voting with your dollar for value, will automatically be counted as a vote against high speed internet service and a vote for unwieldy monopolies that give you what they want secure in the knowledge you're legally obligated to like it. I would like to take this opportunity to tip my hat to Michael Powell, and the thevies at worldcom who played no small role in halving the value of my mutual funds inside of 12 months.

Condalezza Rice and Michael Powell should get together and have the worlds stupidest politician. Through its powers of super nepotism it could grow up to have the diction of George Bush Mk II, the spelling and insight of Dan Quayle, the timing of Jimmy Carter, and the moral fiber of Ronald Regean.

Re:I have ben capped since @home went away

[io333]

capping your bandwidth is like having a speed limit on highways. most people don't have a problem with that. its when you start telling people how long a distance they can travel with their vehicles every month that they get pissed off.

No, it IS telling me how long a distance I can travel. At maximum allowable speed in New Mexico (75mph) I can travel at most 55,800 miles in month (75x24x31) and THAT PISSES ME OFF!

It is NOT false advertising!

[Snork Asaurus]

It's called Marketing, damn it! We live in a new marketing age where many words (like free, unlimited, guarantee, service, quality, value, awesome, truth, elected and many, many others) have lost all of their original meaning. I posted an explanation here the other day. For those who missed it, here it is:

As a result of the dot bomb and stock market downturn, a lot of unemployed MBA's have sought work elsewhere. Some have gone to ISP's, some to Cell Phone services companies, some to Cable Television service providers. All have one thing in common - they are implementing the standard b-school "Suck 'em In and Fleece Them" tiered service model:

Dear Valued Customers,

We are pleased to announce our new tiered service plans, specially designed to suit your specific needs. Now there is a plan for everyone! You may choose from:

$9.99 Unlimited - The basic unlimited. There are limits and they're pretty damned low. No one will ever want this ( we just put it here so that our ads can scream "$9.99 UNLIMITED ! ")

$19.99 More Unlimited Plan - still limited. Just not as limited as the Unlimited Plan.

$29.99 Super Unlimited Plan - more unlimited than the More Unlimited Plan but less unlimited than the Ultra Unlimited Plan.

$49.99 Ultra Unlimited Plan - this one is really, well, unlimited. OK, not really.

$99.99 Mega Unlimited - Awesome! Really, really unlimited (on Tuesday nights only from 8:00 p.m. to midnight).

$299.99 Ultra Supermega Supreme Unlimited. - Totally unlimited. Some restrictions apply. See contract for details. Offer void where people eat toast and in the state of Tennessee. Available only to new customers. Who live in Pittsburgh. On 4th Avenue. In a red house. With blue trim.

$122,999,999.99 The Totally Ultra Supermega Supreme Buy the Damned Company Unlimited Plan. The most unlimited of all the unlimited plans. You can truly use all you want! Almost.

Note: All plans are subject to cancellation if we feel like it.