If we treat ISP as utilities (no caps), then don't be surprised if they treat us like utilities treat their customers: billed by usage.
For some reason I've never quite understood, the idea of being billed by the megabyte seems to draw a very negative reaction around here. People seem to think unlimited internet at a flat rate is a basic human right. But nobody could reasonably expect unlimited killowatt-hours for $20/month.
An ISP advertised as "unlimited" certainly should be unlimited, I wouldn't argue with that. They should either make it truly unlimited, or stop calling it "unlimited". One way or the other. That's just simple honesty. Unstated secret caps on an "unlimited" internet package are fraudulent. But realistically, you just have to know that truly unlimited internet is not going to happen. It's just not practical, any more than unlimited electricity or unlimited natural gas.
The other problem with "unlimited" internet or even flat-fee-with-a-cap internet is that it really means that the light users end up subsidizing the heavy users. And that doesn't seem fair.
Isn't it just easier and more natural all around to just pay by the megabyte, the same way you pay for your killowatt-hours? I think they could work out some kind of sliding scale, so that heavy use or running a popular web-site doesn't become economically infeasible.
And then, once that's in place, maybe we can convince (or force) the ISPs to stop thinking they're anything other than a pipe. A dumb pipe. A dumb pipe that doesn't and shouldn't know or care what goes through it. A pipe whose entire job is to carry bits from one place to another, and not #$#$ with them. Just like the electric company doesn't know or care what you do with your killowatt-hours. It's none of their damn business.