Highly recommended read!! This one is worth sharing with your friends via email, Facebook, etc!
Link to the petition: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Ad...rAction&id=311
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/tim...-drm,7530.html
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Much like everyone reading this article, I'm a genuine supporter of advancement in hardware and technology services. Suffice to say, I was happy with the progression of Internet connection services over the years. Recently, however, I would have to say that Internet connection advancement in the U.S. and Canada has been purely an interest of the corporations that provide them and not about serving the consumer--you--and the advancement of technology in America in general.
Much like everyone reading this article, I'm a genuine supporter of advancement in hardware and technology services. Suffice to say, I was happy with the progression of Internet connection services over the years. Recently, however, I would have to say that Internet connection advancement in the U.S. and Canada has been purely an interest of the corporations that provide them and not about serving the consumer--you--and the advancement of technology in America in general.
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Cable companies have a vested interest in protecting their business, which is providing TV and movie services to their millions of subscribers. The more online movie and music services that pop online, the more threat there is to their bread and butter. The only way cable providers can slow this process down or stop it, is to limit how much you're able to download.
This week, TWC released a new set of tiered connection plans ranging from a ridiculous 1 GB per month plan to something TWC calls the 100 GB "super tier" plan. Super?
"We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," said Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt. Despite what Britt claimed, 2008 was actually a great year for TWC: 10-percent more subscribers, but operating costs didn't go up. So what kind of math did Mr. Britt learn in school? Not the kind of math I learned; but that doesn't matter since Britt had an annual comp of $16.2 million.
Here's some more logical math for your consumption: consider TWC's 40 GB tier. It costs a whopping $54.90 per month. If you only watch 7.25 hours a video per week, via Netflix, your Xbox 360, or any other service, you will be slapped with a bill of $200 at the end of the month. Worried? "Don't worry," says TWC's COO Landel Hobbs.
Cable companies have a vested interest in protecting their business, which is providing TV and movie services to their millions of subscribers. The more online movie and music services that pop online, the more threat there is to their bread and butter. The only way cable providers can slow this process down or stop it, is to limit how much you're able to download.
This week, TWC released a new set of tiered connection plans ranging from a ridiculous 1 GB per month plan to something TWC calls the 100 GB "super tier" plan. Super?
"We need a viable model to be able to support the infrastructure of the broadband business," said Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt. Despite what Britt claimed, 2008 was actually a great year for TWC: 10-percent more subscribers, but operating costs didn't go up. So what kind of math did Mr. Britt learn in school? Not the kind of math I learned; but that doesn't matter since Britt had an annual comp of $16.2 million.
Here's some more logical math for your consumption: consider TWC's 40 GB tier. It costs a whopping $54.90 per month. If you only watch 7.25 hours a video per week, via Netflix, your Xbox 360, or any other service, you will be slapped with a bill of $200 at the end of the month. Worried? "Don't worry," says TWC's COO Landel Hobbs.
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Don't watch streaming video and just a serious gamer? This will affect you too. If you like downloading demos, or have to update your favorite games with big updates and patches, prepare to have those eat a big chunk of your monthly download allowance. This is something every gamer has essentially been doing for free, but not for much longer. Any gamer here using Steam? Oh boy...
If you purchase say, Call of Duty: World at War off of Steam, it's over 6 GB. If you're paying $29.95 for TWC's 5 GB connection, expect to pay an overage fee for hitting your cap and for the extra gigabyte.
You can do something about TWC and others. A for-consumer organization called FreePress has an online petition, which is 500,000 strong at the moment, aims to convince Congress to put a stop to net capping schemes (scams?). Sign up here and make a stand.
Don't watch streaming video and just a serious gamer? This will affect you too. If you like downloading demos, or have to update your favorite games with big updates and patches, prepare to have those eat a big chunk of your monthly download allowance. This is something every gamer has essentially been doing for free, but not for much longer. Any gamer here using Steam? Oh boy...
If you purchase say, Call of Duty: World at War off of Steam, it's over 6 GB. If you're paying $29.95 for TWC's 5 GB connection, expect to pay an overage fee for hitting your cap and for the extra gigabyte.
You can do something about TWC and others. A for-consumer organization called FreePress has an online petition, which is 500,000 strong at the moment, aims to convince Congress to put a stop to net capping schemes (scams?). Sign up here and make a stand.
Link to the petition: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Ad...rAction&id=311
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/tim...-drm,7530.html
