Broadband Internet Caps and Volume Plans and Government Response -- Good, Bad?

UnknowVector

I come from the net ... My format, Vector.
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Any references to "country", "government", or "ISPs" (etc.) refer to the American flavour.

This is going to be a moderately long introduction, so if you know what I'm talking about, skip it and get discussing.

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So, everybody likes good internet access, but it turns out, that good internet access is kinda hard to find in rural areas. So the government has set aside $7.2 million to achieve said internet access via "Broadband internet" (in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).

At the same time some ISPs are toying with the idea of capping bandwidth usage or changing prices based on the amount of broadband used. (e.g. Timer-Warner.) It's sort of like the cell phone plan conflict, pay by the minute or pay by the month.

And there are other concerns, some argue that the power of the internet providers gives them too much control. After all, they can bundle cable and internet together; and if they don't like the upswing in internet video watching, they can just make it cost so much that everyone goes back to cable. So we need to make sure they aren't doing anything nasty or uncompetitive. Right? Well, maybe.

Those same internet providers say they need to change their business model to cope with rising costs due to increased usage. And that means they need to charge more.

Some people think broadband internet should be considered a utility. This is a significant classification because in the U.S. utilities markets generally have significant government intervention. And in the utility markets, the intervention works.

And now for the most recent news. In response to Time-Warner's little stunt (link 2), Congressman Eric Massa has introduced H.R. 2902 that would give the Federal Trade Commission + the Federal Communications Commission the authority to approve or reject any volume-based services plans that ISPs propose. If the ISPs violate the FTC + FCC's decision, they could be fined up to $1,000,000 US.

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There are more issues here to discuss of course, but I think I'll keep this discussion more focused for now.

What do you guys think, volume based service plans, or unlimited service plans? Should broadband internet be considered a utility? Should the government have the authority to judge broadband plans?
 
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