http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080117/time_warner_cable_internet.html?.v=2

Quote :

"Time Warner Cable will experiment with a new pricing structure for high-speed Internet access later this year, charging customers based on how much data they download, a company spokesman said Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT The company, the second-largest cable provider in the United States, will start a trial in Beaumont, Texas, in which it will sell new Internet customers tiered levels of service based on how much data they download per month, rather than the usual fixed-price packages with unlimited downloads. Company spokesman Alex Dudley said the trial was aimed at improving the network performance by making it more costly for heavy users of large downloads. Dudley said that a small group of super-heavy users of downloads, around 5 percent of the customer base, can account for up to 50 percent of network capacity. Dudley said he did not know what the pricing tiers would be nor the download limits. He said the heavy users were likely using the network to download large amounts of video, most likely in high definition. It was not clear when exactly the trial would begin, but Dudley said it would likely be around the second quarter. The tiered pricing would only affect new customers in Beaumont, not existing ones. Time Warner Cable is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080116-leaked-memo-time-warner-cable-to-trial-hard-bandwidth-caps.html

Quote :

"Metered Internet access is a fact of life for many broadband users around the world, but has been largely a nonfactor when it comes to wired broadband in the US. That may change, according to a memo leaked to the Broadband Reports forums. If the memo is to be believed, Time Warner Cable will be rolling out what it calls "Consumption Based Billing" on a trial basis in the Beaumont, Texas area. Under the proposed scheme, new customers will be able to choose from a couple of different plans with varying bandwidth caps. They'll be given online tools to monitor usage and will be able to upgrade to the next higher tier of service to avoid charges for exceeding their monthly bandwidth limit. If the trial works well, Time Warner would then roll out bandwidth caps to current customers: "We will use the results of the trial to evaluate results for possible future nationwide rollouts," reads the memo. Bandwidth caps have been a sore subject for some users who have found themselves bumping into mysterious, undefined limits. This past fall, a number of Comcast subscribers complained that their service was cut off after having reached Comcast's bandwidth limit. The problem is that Comcast (and other ISPs) do not publicize what limits they have in place. Comcast's Acceptable Use Policy, for instance, offers users only a vague warning against "generating levels of traffic sufficient to impede others' ability to send or retrieve information." Absent hard, publicized bandwidth caps, broadband providers' only alternatives are implementing the kinds of nebulous caps Comcast has been criticized for, engaging in traffic shaping to lighten the burden on the network, or making their networks robust enough to handle demand (I'll take door number three). Both Comcast and Cox have been pilloried for using forged reset packets to thwart P2P transfers. Cox defends the practice, saying that it's necessary to "ensure the best possible online experience for customers." Putting caps in place as is apparently planned by Time Warner would remove the uncertainty for high-volume users, and would force the heaviest consumers of bandwidth to pay accordingly. The downside is that companies with bandwidth caps could find themselves at a marketing disadvantage to ISPs without set limits. Time Warner Cable did not immediately respond to a phone call requesting comment on whether the memo is legitimate and it is indeed planning to instituted tiered bandwidth caps. Update Although we have been unable to connect with a Time Warner spokesperson, the company has since confirmed the plans to Reuters. "

1/17/2008 10:18:07 AM

doesn't bother me

pay for what you use

1/17/2008 10:20:39 AM

i don't fall in that 5% of geekdom, so i'm st8

1/17/2008 10:22:47 AM

this does not affect me

1/17/2008 10:24:02 AM

This would only be beneficial to anyone if the lowest tier was burstable to some super high bandwidth but was still <$ 20 a month. Super fast downloads when you need them, but if you don't use it much you don't pay much.

I doubt they'll actually use this to cut the "95%" of the low bandwidth users any sort of break at all. Most likely it will just be used to penalize the big downloaders, who will find other providers that aren't retarded.

this whole idea has [fail] written all over it.

1/17/2008 10:25:42 AM

In conclusion:

All this means to me is they are trying to limit music and movie downloading. Nothing more.

1/17/2008 10:26:37 AM

i assume that you are in the 5% that they mention here, laff. stop stealing from the internets and you will be st8.

1/17/2008 10:27:07 AM

st8? do you mean str8? If you insist on typing like a retarded 14 year old girl sending text messages to her bff jill, could you at least try and get it right?

1/17/2008 10:29:39 AM

we're the red and white from NC s8?

1/17/2008 10:30:41 AM

go st8? go to hell carolina?

1/17/2008 10:31:21 AM

^^ hahahah, the fact remains that you are just mad because this will in fact effect you, lol. stop downloading music and movies and you will not have a reason to troll here!

1/17/2008 10:31:59 AM

a) I'm not trolling. But you seem to be trying to.
b) I'm not mad.
c) this isn't "effecting" me at all
d) Dear Lord in heaven, you are stupid.

1/17/2008 10:33:43 AM

I will find a way around this. Time Warner shall not control my need for up to date media.

1/17/2008 10:33:48 AM

Well, they can't stop people from downloading media illegally, so I guess the new plan is to make it financially impractical.

Quote :

"this whole idea has [fail] written all over it."

1/17/2008 10:35:42 AM

the funny thing about this whole internet thing is that you often call names and talk massive shit over the internet, but face-to-face you would be the little bitch that you are and keep your fucking mouth closed. but you just keep up this internet shit talking and calling names and all that jazz and just one day you might meet a new friend unexpectedly.

1/17/2008 10:35:49 AM

umm...so we're trying to have a conversation about an actual topic here.

Can you take your retarded little text message speak and "I would kick your ass in real life" attitude somewhere else?

Thanks.

Bye.

1/17/2008 10:37:37 AM

SeedLess: you are distracting from the point of this thread.

Please refrain so I am not forced to shove my cock down your throat rendering you SeedFull.

1/17/2008 10:37:57 AM

the only thing that need s to be said here - if you illegally download lots of media, the buck stops here if this is actually implemented.

1/17/2008 10:40:18 AM

why do you assume that everything that is downloaded in large quantities is illegal?

1/17/2008 10:41:55 AM

Quote :

"the only thing that need s to be said here - if you illegally download lots of media, the buck stops here if this is actually implemented."

let's not talk about that

1/17/2008 10:42:40 AM

what else is downloaded in large quantities? just convince me and i will accept it.

1/17/2008 10:48:29 AM

^I'm no longer entertaining your weak ass trolling attempts.

The entire industry is going towards more bandwidth for less money.

There's no way in the world that all of the sudden, that trend will reverse itself.

It's just not going to happen. And if for some retarded reason, Time Warner decides to implement this in more places than Bumblefuck, Texas, there will be tons of alternative ISPs that will be more than happy to give you an unmetered account for the same price. Or cheaper.

1/17/2008 10:50:03 AM

trolling? hahaha thats the oldest question dodging technique that the internet knows

1/17/2008 10:52:44 AM

Example of my internet usage this month:

I downloaded orange box. 8-10 gigs

I downloaded 2 Adobe CS3 programs. 2 Gigs

Am I supposed to pay for those video games in a seperate way like that? Oh, wait, let's make each customer buy the physical DVD's from the store with lots of paper generating more garbage and pollution in its production.

1/17/2008 10:59:03 AM

time warner also owns cable

they are aware that band widths are now getting high enough to where web based tv in high def will become a possibility in a few years.... needless to say they don't want this to happen.

1/17/2008 10:59:27 AM

you have to pay to play! or get a x360!

1/17/2008 11:00:06 AM

This is bad. Just because you use a lot of bandwidth doesn't mean your downloading torrents constantly. What about people who rent HD movies via Xbox or Apple TV on a frequent amount. Or stream lots of video from video based sites like huluu.com. Every little bit adds up. This will affect everyone here.

[Edited on January 17, 2008 at 11:04 AM. Reason : a]

1/17/2008 11:01:22 AM

^

1/17/2008 11:03:07 AM

hahaha, you can't be serious^^

5% of the users are using 50% of the bandwidth

1/17/2008 11:04:56 AM

Quote :

"you have to pay to play! or get a x360!"

You brought up the xbox 360 (at least I guess that's what you meant by x360, your laziness in typing strikes again) but yet you still can't think of any high bandwidth applications that aren't illegal? So all those HD movies that you can rent off xbox live are pretty small in size, right? no?

a couple of HD movies a week and you're looking at 50GB of bandwidth a month.

1/17/2008 11:05:22 AM

if you are unsatisfied with your current internet provider and you reside in this "95%" group. Please feel free to purchase DSL. It will more than fit your current internet needs.

1/17/2008 11:06:04 AM

I think we've already established seedless doesn't know what he's talking about, can we just ignore him now?

1/17/2008 11:06:31 AM

yeah i sure as hell don't/ you guys are very funny this morning, and knowledgeable too

1/17/2008 11:07:19 AM

Quote :

"5% of the users are using 50% of the bandwidth"

not sure i understand your point here? Are you saying that renting HD movies on xbox live or apple tv uses very very little bandwidth? or streaming video from web based video sites uses no bandwidth? i'm confused.

Because from that article it sounds like i'll be paying twice for every hd movie i rent.

1/17/2008 11:08:52 AM

if x360 downloaders where included i am quite sure that this %age would be much higher than 5. this is big screw you to muthafuckers that pretty much have torrents going day and night. obviously twc doesn't want to lose 95% of its customers, so if you are not in the 5% that ridiculously download, then you fee for interents from them probably will not change.

1/17/2008 11:11:58 AM

you're kidding yourself if you think that.

1/17/2008 11:12:38 AM

every time i see the words time warner cable, my immediate thought is "shitty customer service"

1/17/2008 11:13:12 AM

haha you are kidding yourself if you don't think that is the a reasonable assumption

1/17/2008 11:13:24 AM

In any case, i don't think this will ever come to us. I remember TWC sending out a letter to my parents house saying you could only download 5 gigs a month or some ridiculously low number. I continued downloading 20 gigs of a porn a month and we never heard anything about it.

1/17/2008 11:14:16 AM

Quote :

"so if you are not in the 5% that ridiculously download, then you fee for interents from them probably will not change."

Which is exactly the point I made in my first post. Everyone's bill stays the same except for the heaviest users. If Time Warner is getting more money from them then why not cut the other guys a break?

I don't see how ANYONE could think this was a good idea. Except Time Warner shareholders.

1/17/2008 11:17:31 AM

Wow. I go through 5 gigs a month just refreshing text on tww.

1/17/2008 11:19:09 AM

^ or 1 hd movie from xbl

1/17/2008 11:23:21 AM

this won't fly...not at all

1/17/2008 11:44:37 AM

seriously i have no idea how much bandwidth i use but i know i play online xbox 360 alot and i know halo saves the video of the entire match from every angle for replay.. that seems like a lot of info to me.

i download lots of wma movies from xbox live and i watch alot of streaming vids.. but i don't torrent.
i'd really like to see what i use.

1/17/2008 11:44:48 AM

Youtube motherfuckers.

Learn to live without it.

1/17/2008 11:54:23 AM

Quote :

"seriously i have no idea how much bandwidth i use but i know i play online xbox 360 alot and i know halo saves the video of the entire match from every angle for replay.. that seems like a lot of info to me."

halo does not save a video for you. It just saves data points which is why an hour long match is only a few megs. When you replay the match in the theater its rerendering the data points just like it would a live match. This has very very little impact on your bandwidth.

1/17/2008 11:56:34 AM

Quote :

"What about people who rent HD movies via Xbox or Apple TV on a frequent amount."

this is what i was thinking

1/17/2008 12:49:08 PM

hopefully it'll take longer to switch the business class cable ppl. i love my 10mbit. by the time this is implemented nationwide hopefully i'll have verizon to choose from

1/17/2008 1:45:10 PM

if this happens i'm moving to Durham and getting 15mb down/15 mb up with FIOS haha

1/17/2008 1:45:53 PM

netflix streaming movies uses a lot of bandwidth and is totally legal

1/17/2008 1:54:53 PM