[LINK] High-speed isps consider putting on the brakes

[Tony Barry]

Extracted item provided for information.

Source:NewsScan Daily, 26 November 2002 ("Above The Fold")
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HIGH-SPEED ISPs CONSIDER PUTTING ON THE BRAKES
Many of the largest high-speed ISPs are considering capping the amount of
bandwidth that their subscribers can use each month in an effort to put the
brakes on rampant file-swapping. "Every major broadband provider is
seriously weighing pros and cons of bandwidth consumption caps," says
Michael Harris, president of research firm Kinetic Strategies. Leading the
way is Bell Canada, whose DSL service has already instituted caps on
bandwidth use, charging subscribers about 80 cents for each extra 100
megabytes used. The concept is controversial for several reasons: it
requires ISPs to set up a traffic-monitoring system for each account and it
forces the subscriber to self-ration bandwidth -- a foreign concept to
people accustomed to an all-you-can-eat approach to Internet use. Critics
note that unwanted content, such as pop-up ads and pornographic spam, could
waste subscribers' bandwidth, but Bell Canada says its policy has been a
success so far. The company offers tiered levels of service allowing 2GB,
10GB and 20GB of monthly traffic, and the percentage of customers exceeding
their allotment in any given month is small -- between 6% and 8%. Cable
companies are eyeing the Bell Canada experiment with interest, as their
subscribers in particular are adversely affected by "bandwidth hogs."
Meanwhile, the president of file-swapping company Grokster dismisses the
efforts, saying, "They only thing they're going to accomplish is to make
their customers angry." (CNet News.com 26 Nov 2002)
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975320.html?tag=fd_nbs_emed
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