Will Internet Usage Pricing Kill Streaming ?

[audiomusiclover]

I live in the NC area and see where Time Warner is looking to move to a Internet usage model in the future.  At least they are testing the waters.  They say this will help them stay ahead of the increased usage that is taxing their systems.  I can see many issues with this in the next few years, especially with Internet streaming becoming much more common place.  I suppose streaming music at 128kbs or even 320kbs, won't be an issue, unless it is done often along with other streams, such as video, etc.  I do see this sort of model scaring the public away from streaming and it will hurt the streaming industry.  With this, I was curious as to what can be done if anything to stop this from the ISP's.  I also see this as a great way for TWC as an example, to use this model to force users to use & pay for Time Warner's supplied cable products exclusively,  so to control the competition.  Thoughts?

[d21ofnj]

For me, Cablevision in NJ doesnt have that problem yet, so I guess Par........I mean "Blaze" 96 is safe to be streaming

[H82BL8]

They say this will help them stay ahead of the increased usage that is taxing their systems.  Thoughts?

AML~ Don't let them fool you for one moment! There is no shortage of unused pipe in the ground. Every time that your cable company makes this claim, I encourage you to send them an email message, referencing their attempt to raise pricing, stating something similar to this:

"I recently hear/read about your desire to raise pricing due to a lack of capacity. If you do raise pricing, I will immediatly switch service providers. In addition, I am sending a copy of this message to my Congressional and Senatorial representatives requesting that they end the cable monopoly and deregulate the cable industry so I can actually have the option to choose the cable company with the most competitive pricing."

Unfortunately, bandwidth pricing is the least of your worries. You should be more concerned about the webcast royalties required by the CRB and promoted by the major labels dba SoundExchange.

[candy_kisses69]

Time Warner was going to do that [start charging extra for the usage if you go over for the use of the internet] but decided to scrap the idea here in Rochester.  Although it may be temporary they claim they want to educate the public first.  I think they got alot of complaints and alot of people would made a switch to another server.  Maybe they should atleast have different plans for less users and a flat rate.
Senator Schumar got involved and complained also.  Here is a website that was listed during the report on my local station.
www.stopthecap.com

[V.Riley]

In my area (Central Ohio) they offer you bandwidth packages.  If you want/need more bandwidth, they are happy to charge you for it.