Quote Originally Posted by Echofoot View Post
While yes, I may never hit that cap personally, it sets a scary precedent. What with the rise and popularity of HD content, not to mention our increasing use of cloud based services, our dependace on huge bandwidth services is nearing a necessity. What's to hold these isps from setting the tune to what they want us to pay?
In a word, competition. Even without any here in my community, it's still the best deal I've been offered in terms of cost and what I get for my money. If I bundle my services and sign a 12-month contract, that cost drops as well. Dramatically. My cable is practically free.

Perhaps I'm an optimist, but I see a few potential good things out of this, aside from the above reason:
1) If anyone is mooching off of my wireless network (I'd be surprised), I would be able to find out easier. And they would be able to find out easier. No sense in waiting for the subpoena to come, if they can nip suspicious activity in the bud early. I can check my usage daily and would be able to pick up on any suspicious overloaded bandwidth.
2) ISP's have to be feeling the heat from people that have moved solely to tablet (iPad / Android) computing. It's still in it's infancy, but won't be for long.
3) Maybe look into the speeds they offer. If they're limiting the bandwidth, chances are they're increasing the speed. That's the way it works with my current ISP. I'm clocking speeds I didn't have in the office from my home. A business partner I work with has a couple of webservers with a small ISP who offer tiered rates for their services based on speed. While other web hosting companies may offer you great speeds, they come with bandwidth limits. This particular company charges depending on the bandwidth speeds desired.
4) That cap is always in the back of my head, though, so even though I haven't begun to scratch the surface of my limit, sometimes, when provided the option of watching a movie online or reading a book, I pick up that book. And that's never a bad thing, either.
5) Google and others have been threatening open, public wifi for some time now. Libraries, coffee shops and other hangout spots offer free wifi now. No longer is the only place to get your online fix from your home, or even something you're stuck paying for.

So I see your point. I really do. And I hate that I'm stuck paying the same amount for limited service. The per GB rate is absurd. If I were even close, or thought I could get close, I'd raise a stink, and I think other people would as well. But for now, 100 GB is unattainable.