Re: NYTimes.com: Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Bob Frankston [bob37-2 () bobf frankston com]
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 8:13 PM
To: David Farber; 'ip'
Subject: RE: [IP] NYTimes.com: Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic

I’m going to mull a letter to the NYT – in the meantime I need to shout.

The Internet is not like electricity!! The idea that are using it up is stupid at best.

Remember that ISDN failed because no matter how technically better it was the big feature was bringing back usage 
charges – but fortunately the unmeasured usage of POTS allowed us to discover the Internet. Today with capacity 
increasing at Moore’s law speeds the idea that we are using up the Internet is simply a self-serving lie.

My own informal testing via my Verizon connection has shown the amount of “bandwidth” that I get connecting cross the 
country has more than doubled in the last year – what’s the problem ATT is trying to solve other than preying on its 
customers?

The ability to impose these charges is something is, in itself, evidence of extreme marketplace control.

Limiting our ability to communicate in the face of abundance is a violation of the US First Amendment.

From: DAVID FARBER [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 19:42
To: ip
Subject: [IP] NYTimes.com: Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic

Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic
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[cid:image001.gif@01C8CE5A.B22448C0][cid:image002.gif@01C8CE5A.B22448C0]<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&page=www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/technology&pos=Frame4A&sn2=d59993d0/2e9a4d4e&sn1=cec378fe/543ddc88&camp=foxsearch2008_emailtools_810904c-nyt5&ad=FSLwidget.gif&goto=http://foxsearchlight.com/networkwidget/index.php>

By BRIAN STELTER<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/brian_stelter/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
Published: June 15, 2008

Some people use the Internet simply to check e-mail and look up phone numbers. Others are online all day, downloading 
big video and music files.

For years, both kinds of Web surfers have paid the same price for access. But now three of the country’s largest 
Internet service providers are threatening to clamp down on their most active subscribers by placing monthly limits on 
their online activity.

One of them, Time Warner 
Cable<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/time-warner-cable-inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org>, began a 
trial of “Internet metering” in one Texas city early this month, asking customers to select a monthly plan and pay 
surcharges when they exceed their bandwidth limit. The idea is that people who use the network more heavily should pay 
more, the way they do for water, electricity, or, in many cases, cellphone minutes.

That same week, 
Comcast<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/comcast_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org> said that 
it would expand on a strategy it uses to manage Internet traffic: slowing down the connections of the heaviest users, 
so-called bandwidth hogs, at peak times.

AT&T<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/at_and_t/index.html?inline=nyt-org> also said Thursday that 
limits on heavy use were inevitable and that it was considering pricing based on data volume. “Based on current trends, 
total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years,” the company said in a 
statement.

All three companies say that placing caps on broadband use will ensure fair access for all users.

Internet metering is a throwback to the days of dial-up service, but at a time when video and interactive games are 
becoming popular, the experiments could have huge implications for the future of the Web.

Millions of people are moving online to watch movies and television shows, play multiplayer video games and talk over 
videoconference with family and friends. And media companies are trying to get people to spend more time online: the 
Disneys and NBCs of the world keep adding television shows and movies to their Web sites, giving consumers convenient 
entertainment that soaks up a lot of bandwidth.

Moreover, companies with physical storefronts, like 
Blockbuster<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/blockbuster_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org>, are 
moving toward digital delivery of entertainment. And new distributors of online content — think YouTube — are relying 
on an open data spigot to make their business plans work.

Critics of the bandwidth limits say that metering and capping network use could hold back the inevitable converge



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