Two big national ISPs toy with idea to charge you for every gigabyte you download.While some countries including Australia and Canada have always had some sort of cap on the amount of megabytes that users download over their Internet service provider, the United States remained the bastion of free-market sensibility by allowing faster lines but no cap on the amount of downloads.
While conversations about capping connections are not new, Newsweek Senior Editor Steven Levy reports through the Washington Post that Time Warner Cable and Comcast are toying with the option to bill payers on their consumption of Internet related content. As the model goes, users would pay if they went over their limit. So if you were on a 5 GB plan and downloaded two full films standard definition films (possibly 8-17 GB in a month), you’d be charged for the movie rental plus the penalty fee from your ISP. Given that Blu-ray and HD DVD movies have the potential to hit the 51 GB range, the future of those fees could easily add millions of dollars to an ISP’s wallet.
While Levy’s piece doesn’t call start a deathwatch for limitless Internet download, with several demos on Xbox Live topping the 1 GB mark, gamers might be unfairly “taxed” for trying out game demos or downloading legal TV shows and movies through consoles, PC, laptops and other items.
