Data caps - Gizmodo

posts about #datacaps more →
Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
Comcast Usage Meter Coming in January to Help Users Avoid Data Cap Overages
T-Mobile Monthly Soft Data Caps Will Return
Has Comcast Lowered Their Monthly Usage Limits?

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

nutbastard
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Anyone else chuckling at the fact that we have an old, white Congressman named "Massa"?

"Massa! Massa! The ISPs done capped our 'loads! And we slave folks is fixin to uncap them loads hyah! Oh, pray, Massa!"
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Save us, Government, save us! We don't like the terms of our voluntary contracts any more, please hold a gun to their heads! Never mind that bandwidth costs money, we want it and we want you to force them to give it to us on our behalf! Oh glorious Government, hallowed be thy name! For it is you, and only you, that can decide better than we what is best for us! It is you who litigates our problems away at others expense!
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

(Note: Advertising 'unlimited' but imposing limits should be dealt with under false advertisement laws; no new legislation is required.)
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

dfwguy
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

Does this mean you are pro gun control?
Reply

dfwguy was starred dfwguy was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@dfwguy:

I'm Libertarian - I oppose any kind of regulation or restriction of firearms.

Yes, that does mean that I believe that The People have a God-given right to own hand grenades and AK-47's.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@nutbastard:

Even better, the congressman's name is "Massa".

"Massa! Massa! The ISPs done capped our 'loads! And we slave folks is fixin to uncap them loads hyah! Oh, pray, Massa!"
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

gibson042
06/18/09

@nutbastard: The real irony here is that people's limited broadband choices are probably caused directly by municipal monopolies granted to their local cable and telephone providers.
Reply

gibson042 was starred gibson042 was unstarred

nutbastard
06/19/09

@gibson042:

Im all for removing government's power to play favorites.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

dfwguy
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
I know this is somewhat off topic, but I think AT&T has found another way to limit at least part of your downloads. Sometime around 7/15/09 they are eliminating access to usenet.
Reply

dfwguy was starred dfwguy was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@dfwguy:

...and then sometime around 7/16/09, a workaround will be hacked out and it'll be like nothing happened.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
wait, what?! we are already being capped, this article is talking about making ISP's UNCAP. Your backwards comment makes my brain hurt
Reply

DontFeedTheTrolls was starred

DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

@@iqlusion: ahhh, stray comments. Maybe Giz should add some type of "Replying to:" field so you know it is actually going to reply to a comment thread and not end up afloat like the one above :-\
Reply

DontFeedTheTrolls was starred

Solaseria
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
For all of us- errr...those torrentors eating up bandwidth, would capping data volume put a damper on media pirating?
Reply

Solaseria was starred Solaseria was unstarred

DontFeedTheTrolls
06/18/09

@Solaseria: uhhhhhh.... caps != filters
Reply

DontFeedTheTrolls was starred

GitEmSteveDave_RockinLabCoat
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Wow, I really have no concept of what a data cap is thanks to FiOS, and if there was never a chance of it, more so the better.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
Yay in theory, but Booo-urns to the concept of letting the government determine whose needs are "justified," business or individual.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred

dfwguy
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus:

So you would prefer to have someone you pay to change terms and limit your downloads?
Reply

dfwguy was starred dfwguy was unstarred

Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@dfwguy: Yes, and if I don't agree to the terms or the limits, than someone else earns my money.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred

Dillinger23
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Great idea, except the fact that a lot of people have no choice. If i want Internet at my house, i get ATT DSL or i pay 500/MO for a T1, THOSE ARE MY OPTIONS.
Reply

Dillinger23 was starred Dillinger23 was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@Dillinger23:

oh stfu "i have no choice". you can choose to not have it. you won't die without it. you just WANT it.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

admoseremic
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
While I agree with what this bill is trying to do, I find the idea of additional government involvement in my life disgusting.
Reply

admoseremic was starred admoseremic was unstarred

pz
06/18/09

@admoseremic: Jesus, you people seem to be everywhere these days.

I guess you also don't like the military/police protecting you, the FDA making sure your food doesn't have excess amounts of feces in it, the EPA making sure your water is clean, or OSHA making sure you don't fall in a meat grinder either, eh?

Considering how a major corporation sees me (as just a line on a balance sheet somewhere), I bloody well WELCOME additional government involvement in my life.

If you don't like it, move to Somalia. Go ahead, move. I'll even buy your farking plane ticket.
Reply

pz was starred pz was unstarred

Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@admoseremic: Meh. I have no preference between being oppressed by the government or by telecommunications cartels. Taking it in the ass is painful no matter who is on the other end.

Of course, this regulation, without price caps, leaves open the possibility of a "creative response". For instance, companies might just increase prices to compensate for having no caps or volume- based fees. Consumers could get screwed either way.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: the same group of people determining what's fair about capping data usage is the same group of people that determine who is allowed to provide cable service to your region... so you're getting screwed by the same people either way.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred

Hiphopopotamus
06/18/09

@mdmadph: Quick note: Never try and cite the EPA as an effective agency in an argument, your words will be drowned out by all the giggling.
Reply

Hiphopopotamus was starred Hiphopopotamus was unstarred

Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Hmm. That's a good point. Furthermore, these same people who are screwing me are catering to the agenda of their campaign contributors, who are the people who would be screwing me in the alternative scenario. So, it looks like it's more of a "gang-screwing".
Reply

rimshot515
06/18/09

@mdmadph: So that when the government does pass new regulations and taxes, the costs are passed on to you and those less economically fortunate than you?

Yeah, punish the poor! Hurrah!

FDA? EPA? Wow. Because, you know, they have fantastic track records and are so effective at what they do.

Yeah, more government involvement! Yeah, more recessions! Who doesn't love how banks and healthcare, some of the most regulated sectors of the economy, are doing!
Reply

rimshot515 was starred rimshot515 was unstarred

pz
06/18/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Oh, no -- they're not perfect, so they're useless?

Just try and imagine a world WITHOUT them. I dare you.

I hope you like drinking sewer water.
Reply

pz was starred pz was unstarred

pz
06/18/09

@rimshot515: Costs passed on to the poor? In what century?

You see, there's these things called "progressive taxes" -- oh, it's not like you're listening, anyway.
Reply

pz was starred pz was unstarred

Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@rimshot515: Interestingly, people are blaming the recession on a lack of regulation in the financial industry (though I suppose who to blame doesn't really matter at this point). It's an interesting problem - regulation causes economic distortions, but on the other hand, the population is collectively stupid, resulting in us causing bubbles that burst and erase years of growth. We need some degree of economic regulation - it's just really difficult to determine how much, and how it should be applied correctly.
Reply

Voyou_Charmant
06/18/09

@admoseremic: I'm so sick of people and their poorly thought out concerns.

This isn't additional government involvement in your life.

@rimshot515:

FDA = Underfunded, understaffed, chronyism and admin appointees that are industry insiders and have an agenda contrary to its purpose.

EPA = Again; underfunded, understaffed, chronyism and admin appointees that are industry insiders and have an agenda contrary to its purpose.

Banking: HUGE deregulation at the end of 2000 (thanks Clinton!) and lack of oversight/regulation lead to the collapse.

Your statement concerning healthcare seems to blur the insurance industry and healthcare providers together.

Healthcare providers are not the problem, the insurance industry who's promary concern is profits is the problem.

You're just stringing together random concepts you might have heard any attributing them to other things you think might be related. It's utter nonsense.
Reply

Voyou_Charmant was starred Voyou_Charmant was unstarred

Voyou_Charmant
06/18/09

@mdmadph: Honestly!
Reply

Voyou_Charmant was starred Voyou_Charmant was unstarred

Dillinger23
06/18/09

@rimshot515: You probably cant even comprehend with your little repub brain how many times the FDA has probably saved your life. Just think for 1 fucking second about the peanut thing, sure they missed that, but how many things have they NOT missed, that has prevented you from death, penis loss, and all forms of cancer.
Reply

Dillinger23 was starred Dillinger23 was unstarred

Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@Dillinger23: Presumptuous troll is presumptuous.
Reply

admoseremic
06/18/09

@mdmadph: While I agree that many government agencies are good and necessary, I also believe that there are many agencies and services and laws that are not necessary and even damaging to businesses and people. A bill that puts these type of trivial limits and laws on a corporation just because a bunch of people don't like the way the business is run lies on the side of unnecessary and damaging in my opinion.
Reply

admoseremic was starred admoseremic was unstarred

LeanderSnookie
06/18/09

@admoseremic: How is preventing data caps a bad thing here though? It's an unfair practice caused by the fact that the industry literally has zero competition. It's not due to actual issues providing said bandwidth at all.

I'm all for promoting business, but when the technology sector is trying to push forward and create new exciting ways to use said technology is being stifled by greedy ISP's, I have no issue with the government stepping in and slapping their wrists because they frankly deserve it.

We've come far enough that the digital life should be progressing, not regressing. With all of these ridiculous data caps in place, just for starters, ideas like streaming Netflix are getting hurt. How is this smart business at all?
Reply

LeanderSnookie was starred LeanderSnookie was unstarred

RuBBa_cHiKiN: The real question is can it fit in the Batmobile?
06/18/09

@rimshot515: The Recession was nothing more than a side effect of Deregulation.
Reply

Hello Mister Walrus
06/18/09

@LeanderSnookie: Data caps alone might be bad because the companies will try to recoup profits from other areas, like cutting other services or just charging higher prices. In the long run, it might be more damaging to technological development. Any effective regulation must account for all these possibilities.
Reply

nutbastard
06/19/09

@mdmadph:

dude, how pathetically helpless are you that in your mind, a world without the FDA means drinking sewer water?

Are you really so paralyzingly frightened of the world that it turns nightmarish the second there isn't a mother figure making sure your cocoa isn't too hot?

Hunch - you've spent your whole life living in a large city.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

nutbastard
06/19/09

@RuBBa_cHiKiN:

"The Recession was nothing more than a side effect of Deregulation. "

By that argument, then, industry was in a perpetual recession before regulation. And that simply isn't true - the entire industrial revolution occurred with virtually zero regulation.

Had the recession not happened, Old Man Madoff would still be scamming people. Recessions are necessary every once in a while because they expose the bastards and topple towers built too high. The problem here is the government isn't letting the big ones fall, which means that this recession is going to be a long, drawn out bitch of a time with little benefit.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

KinOfCain
06/18/09

In reply to Congress Readies Bill to Bring an End to ISP Data Caps6
So long as it's data caps on what is sold as an "unlimited" plan. ISPs should be able to sell access by the GB, but they shouldn't be allowed to cap "unlimited" plans.

If the government wants there to be more competition, then put in plans to genuinely increase competition, don't create stupid laws that require companies to "justify" their prices, that's just going to end in pain for everyone.
Reply

KinOfCain was starred KinOfCain was unstarred

nutbastard
06/18/09

@KinOfCain:

Agreed, This shouldn't require additional legislation - it is covered under false advertising laws. I think the meaning of the word "unlimited" is fairly unambiguous - I mean, obviously one IS limited by hardware etc, but "unlimited" means 'without arbitrary additional limits imposed'.
Reply

nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred

Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
04/02/09

In reply to Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
Ha! I hope TW loses customers to Comcast & Verizon now...
Reply

GitEmSteveDave_RockinLabCoat
04/02/09

In reply to Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
Also, note that your VoIP counts against your data usage. So if you have a gabby teen......
Reply

GitEmSteveDave_RockinLabCoat
04/02/09

In reply to Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
There are times I look at my crappy Actiontec router/modem, and kiss it because it's hooked into my FiOS.
Reply

Xeno
04/02/09

@CargoHolder_GitEmSteveDave: Kinky, a little man-router love.
Reply

Xeno was starred Xeno was unstarred

BigCementPigeon
04/02/09

@Xeno has nothing useful to contribute: And I'm bent enough to invite anouther router into our little "thing"... I couldn't help it. That AirPort Extreme was just so sexy sitting there, ActionTec and I both agreed we would hardwire it.

Uh. Wait, was that out loud?
Reply

BigCementPigeon was starred BigCementPigeon was unstarred

GitEmSteveDave_RockinLabCoat
04/02/09

@BigCementPigeon: Oh, I brought a 2nd router into my little Menage a Troi.

There's now another D-link antenna hooked into the Linksys, cuz I like a little "ethnic mix" action.
Reply

Nick
04/02/09

In reply to Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
damn it. i just got into another "price lock" with those bums. piss on me. although, it does remind of living in the dorms when we had a 3GB cap a week. that was ridiculous.
Reply

Nick was starred Nick was unstarred

konakazi
04/02/09

In reply to Time Warner Monthly Data Caps Spread Beyond Texas
Oh come on!! Here I am about to drop my cable and just live off the net, downloading shows, anime, and movies as always, and then they announce this? Hopefully they stop this madness before it spreads to NYC!

If it does hit us, I'll definitely be looking at competition that has no such restrictions.

What's the point of having the world at your fingertips if it costs you to get more than a grope?
Reply

konakazi was starred konakazi was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
04/02/09

@konakazi: I hope you don't live in a large apartment building. If you do, you might want to see if your building has a contract with TWC preventing you from going with (ack) Cablevision.

Cablevision and TWC have a pretty good duopoly going on which has been screwing New Yorkers for years.
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

thecolor
12/04/08

In reply to Comcast Usage Meter Coming in January to Help Users Avoid Data Cap Overages
they better get crackin' on a REAL-time meter! Every cellphone company in the world has a prettydarn-close-to-REAL-time meter, so they can do it to. If they are going to charge their customers for overages, the customers should have an accurate way to measure it, not a delayed one.

Common Comcast, this is technology age, get with the program! And don't use a "it takes time" excuse. (time is microseconds to the internet)
Reply

thecolor was starred thecolor was unstarred

Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
12/04/08

@thecolor: That's because the phone tracks usage individually, versus a polling method that requires back-end processing to display a pretty web picture.

Not really anywhere near the same thing. If all of your devices connected to the internet were capable of tracking their own use, report it, then it could maybe be closer to realtime. Otherwise, it requires a polling system.
Reply

Earlier threads | All threads | Show hidden threads | Show featured threads only | Start a new discussion