Time Warner Cable cancels usage caps

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: microAmp

Originally posted by: Special K

In April, Time Warner Cable will begin collecting information on its customers' Internet use in the Texas cities of Austin and San Antonio and in Rochester, N.Y. Consumption billing will begin in those cities later this summer.

I live in Austin, use TWC, and just checked my router's statistics. Apparently I average about ~40GB/month of bandwidth, which would put me close to their new upper limit. Looks like I'll be switching to a new ISP this summer, although I think AT&T is the only other choice around here.

Yeah, AT&T is the only choice, if it's available in your specific area. My folks old home was just outside the range of the boxes, even after 10 years broadband started to get popular.

Two cable companies for me in the new neighborhood, then Verizon for phone service but they don't provide broadband here. I need to check Grande's website to see what caps if any they have.

You still work for the same company that you came down here for?

I've had few problems with my ATT DSl here in north Austin in the past 5 years. If you're close enough to the DSLAM to get a decent speed, I wouldn't hesitate to switch.

Screw TWC.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: cheezy321
This is fucking bullshit.

250 GB was at least reasonable. 40 GB a month? Thats freakin insanely low! All you need to do is watch 2 hi-def movies and POOF! Half of your GB usage for the month is gone.

I hope there is a huge uproar about this and they change it back.

Aye..One of the websites I run can require me to upload 6~GB of files a month. That'd be over 10% of my limit there. Not to mention getting the files downloaded in the first place throughout the month..12~GB...it adds up.

Add in some movies and it's gone.

While I don't really embrace the caps and what TW/RR is doing, this as you pasted above is then a business line and you can get business class internet. Sure you pay more for it... but guess why?

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: ja1484

Originally posted by: spidey07
I swear you guys sound like 80 year old men shaking their fist at the utility companies. Internet is a utility and will be billed accordingly. Shake your fist all you want but you will pay for what you use.

All you can eat is gone.

You're missing the point. This is America. I don't give a fuck about fair, I just want what benefits me personally the most. I'm *fine* with other people suffering - in fact, that makes it even better, because then I have someone to deride as though circumstances outside of their control are actually their fault. After all, being an asshole is the new national pass time.

In seriousness, this:

Originally posted by: spikespiegal
The question I have is where does the ISP incur a higher support cost in the first place that they are trying to pass on to customers?

Seriously, what's the actual cost difference to the ISP if download 5gig -vs- 500gig a month? Does some hamster on a flywheel somewhere have to punch in for overtime? Their routers have a 'data odometer' that requires them be replaced when they reach a certain packet count like spent fuel rods or something?

It's not their servers spinning data off their hard-drives that's being downloaded by consumers. They just provide the path and infrastructure. It would seem they have to keep the same number of service techs on the payroll regardless of how many movies I download a month.

Is the point. There's no higher cost to TW because of higher service usage. I breath twice as much air as a little kid half my size. So the fuck what?

This is a very very ignorant post.
Edit: I mean spikespiegal's original post more than ja1484 agreeing.

 

[Zeeky Boogy Doog]

I think this could be great, I'd love to have a high speed line with a 5 GB cap, as long as I was only paying ~$5/month, but to expect me to pay $30 for a 5GB cap and the best I can (un)reasonably buy is a max of 40GB... WTF, SRSLY... WTF? Do I get rollover GB's at least?

 

[robphelan]

i emailed their CS to complain and let them know upon inception of this, I would be moving to another ISP.

here's their response..

Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Email Support.

I understand that you have heard about the cap on Internet usage and are upset about it.

I apologize for the inconvenience and I will be glad to assist you.

Time Warner Cable understands and embraces the evolution of the importance of the way people are now
consuming Internet content. We encourage current innovations, and want to ensure our business model
is fair to all subscribers.
Video over the Internet is an interesting and growing phenomenon - one that we will watch closely.
The impacts are not immediate, but long-term, and that is how we will focus our attention.
Regardless of the direction of this trend, Time Warner Cable is well-positioned to meet our
customers growing needs.
Our goal is to provide the best possible Internet experience for ALL of our customers, not to let
the minority affect the majority. The vast majority of our customers will see no difference in their
monthly bill.
The challenge is to find an equitable way to charge customers so that we can pay for necessary
infrastructure upgrades. We are looking to create a business model that will allow customers to
choose the speed and consumption package that makes sense for their household Internet usage.
With a consumption based billing plan, all customers will have access to a ?gas gauge? that will
enable them to track their consumption against their plan. A customer will have three months to get
comfortable with the gauge before the bill hits. We don?t want our customers to have any unpleasant
surprises.
Some of our customers may actually save money by ?right-sizing? to a plan that meets their needs. We
are happy to help them do that.

We look forward to serve you better.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: tbooth
Slightly OT, but as far as AT&T DSL goes, does anyone know what constitutes "excessive bandwidth usage" as noted in their terms and conditions?

AT&T Terms and Conditions:
"Guaranteed Price for 24 Months: Price guarantee applies to monthly recurring charge for a period of 24 months from date of service, and does not include taxes, fees or excessive bandwidth usage charges."

i've not gotten a fee and i have tons of transfer.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

It was perfectly clear. "We need to pay for all this expensive bandwidth and gear to provide you adequate service as demands increase, so the people that use the most are going to pay more because they use more."

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

It was perfectly clear. "We need to pay for all this expensive bandwidth and gear to provide you adequate service as demands increase, so the people that use the most are going to pay more because they use more."

I meant that all the email did was reiterate what they've already said in their press releases. They did nothing to address any of the concerns people have been having (such as "why is the cap so low?" or "would there be any reason at all for me to stick with you when DSL companies give me more than 5x the bandwidth cap for the same price or less?").

 

[Eos]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

Would you prefer different answers from different people?

"Canned" answers are required so all customer are told the same information.

 

[SAWYER]

I have had AT&T dsl for years and have never had an issue. They may not be the fastest but the are rock solid and dependable and I have never got a letter about bandwidth usage

 

[n7]

Massively epic fail.

I feel crippled horribly with the 100 GB i have.

40 GB.

ROFL...sorry for you guys on such a POS ISP.

 

[FDF12389]

Does anyone know if this will effect TW business class? If it does I am gone.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: Homerboy

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: cheezy321
This is fucking bullshit.

250 GB was at least reasonable. 40 GB a month? Thats freakin insanely low! All you need to do is watch 2 hi-def movies and POOF! Half of your GB usage for the month is gone.

I hope there is a huge uproar about this and they change it back.

Aye..One of the websites I run can require me to upload 6~GB of files a month. That'd be over 10% of my limit there. Not to mention getting the files downloaded in the first place throughout the month..12~GB...it adds up.

Add in some movies and it's gone.

While I don't really embrace the caps and what TW/RR is doing, this as you pasted above is then a business line and you can get business class internet. Sure you pay more for it... but guess why?

We live in an information age.

That was just an example, but I still don't think a similar concept (tele-commuting employees for example, which is pretty much the same), are business class line customers, do you?

Bandwidth is cheap, ask any hosting provider. Time Warner is abusing their position. They are charging roughly $1.15 a gigabyte for bandwidth!

Anyhow, since my last move it doesn't affect me since I am with Verizon, but I still oppose it.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/18844
Obama / Biden: tools of the RIAA?

p2pnet news view RIAA | Freedom | P2P:- The Free Software Foundation has requested permission to file an amicus curiae brief in an RIAA case, SONY BMG Music Entertainment v Tenenbaum, defending the defendant?s Due Process defense to the RIAA?s claim for statutory damages, p2pnet posted yesterday, adding:

?This may represent the first test on whether the shiny new Barack Obama administration, with RIAA lawyers now comfortably ensconced in top positions at the Department of Justice, is for the people (as Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music continue to call their own customers criminals and thieves), or against them.?

Says Ray Beckerman in Recording Industry vs The People »»»

Any day now we will be finding out whether the Obama Administration, which pledged to work for the people, and to keep officials from working on matters affecting the industries they represented in private life, will be intervening to help the RIAA defend its position that it?s okay to assess statutory damages of from $750 to $150,000 for infringement of a single mp3 file.

This will be the litmus test of whether, as many fear, the Obama/Biden administration will be tools of the ?Big 4' Record Companies.

The Obama Department of Justice has former RIAA lawyers in its 2nd and 3rd highest positions. Under the rules, they, and any of their compatriots whom they may have brought with them, should be precluded from having anything to do with the Justice Department?s decisions as to (a) whether or not to intervene and (b) if they do intervene, what position they will take.

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Cloud in Pennsylvania, and SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum

In Tenenbaum the Free Software Foundation filed its amicus curiae brief yesterday, reminding the Court of the authorities which say that statutory damages are subject to the same Due Process test as punitive damages.

If the Justice Department lawyers have the temerity to say to the Court that statutory damages of from 2,100 to 425,000 times the actual damages sustained pass constitutional muster, we can pretty well count the Obama Jus

 

[0roo0roo]

Obama: Stop Filling Administration with RIAA Insiders
By David Kravets EmailApril 02, 2009 | 2:00:43 PMCategories: Intellectual Property

Obamajurv Nearly two dozen public interest groups, trade pacts and library groups urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to quit filling his administration with insiders plucked from the Recording Industry Association of America.

The demands came a week after the Justice Department, fresh with two RIAA attorneys in its No. 2 and No. 3 positions, announced the administration's support of $150,000 in damages for each music track purloined on a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The administration, moreover, has just declared as classified the inner workings of worldwide intellectual property trade pact. And Hollywood is urging Obama to embrace internet filtering as the content industry seeks to cut internet access to repeat copyright violators....... http://blog.wired.com/27bstrok...4/obama-stop-fill.html

 

[0roo0roo]

http://blog.danielcraig.com/20...k-for-doj-is-riaa.html
"The life and times of Dan Craig and family
Friday, February 06, 2009
Obama's Latest Pick for DOJ is RIAA Lawyer Who Killed Grokster and Sued Jammie Thomas - ReadWriteWeb
Obama's Latest Pick for DOJ is RIAA Lawyer Who Killed Grokster and Sued Jammie Thomas - ReadWriteWeb

The question was never whether Obama was in someone's pocket, the question was whose pocket. Now we know. With his moves regarding DOJ picks, Obama has placed himself squarely in the entertainment industry's pool of goons.

It was so stressful not knowing when he would disappoint me. I wondered where it would manifest itself on a daily basis. It's like walking down a street and worrying that a killer hides behind every shadow (except that I knew there was at least one killer in one shadow).

This isn't a major problem, but it certainly concerns me. These guys have shown ZERO concern with the rights of the people. They have supported malicious lawsuits that ruined the credibility of the RIAA (what little there was). What will become of the already pathetic DOJ?"

 

[Agentbolt]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

It was perfectly clear. "We need to pay for all this expensive bandwidth and gear to provide you adequate service as demands increase, so the people that use the most are going to pay more because they use more."

I have no problem with pay-for-what-you-use billing, but 40 gigs on the top end? That's beyond stupid.

Internet should work like cell phones. It WILL work like cell phones, eventually. You pick a data cap, pay accordingly, and if you go over it you get big overage charges. Gigs may end up not counting during off-peak useage. Some company will probably introduce "rollover" gigs. Others will charge strictly by the gig.

Right now Comcast has somehow decided the top end should be 40 gigs a month. That's like having your best cell phone plan be for 400 minutes a month. Other ISPs will destroy them if that's what they're going to stick with. For the record, Comcast is not fundamentally retarded, so this 40 gig nonsense will be gone within a few months, and some more reasonable caps will appear in their place.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Wow, nice canned response there. Way to take several paragraphs to not say anything Time Warner.

It was perfectly clear. "We need to pay for all this expensive bandwidth and gear to provide you adequate service as demands increase, so the people that use the most are going to pay more because they use more."

I have no problem with pay-for-what-you-use billing, but 40 gigs on the top end? That's beyond stupid.

Internet should work like cell phones. It WILL work like cell phones, eventually. You pick a data cap, pay accordingly, and if you go over it you get big overage charges. Gigs may end up not counting during off-peak useage. Some company will probably introduce "rollover" gigs. Others will charge strictly by the gig.

Right now Comcast has somehow decided the top end should be 40 gigs a month. That's like having your best cell phone plan be for 400 minutes a month. Other ISPs will destroy them if that's what they're going to stick with. For the record, Comcast is not fundamentally retarded, so this 40 gig nonsense will be gone within a few months, and some more reasonable caps will appear in their place.

We're uh..talking about Time Warner.

 

[Razgriz]

WTF Time Warner? 40 GB is pathetic, and I will gtfo and go to DSL.

oh, good link here with contact info, etc.
Stop TWC

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: Homerboy

Originally posted by: TruePaige

Originally posted by: cheezy321
This is fucking bullshit.

250 GB was at least reasonable. 40 GB a month? Thats freakin insanely low! All you need to do is watch 2 hi-def movies and POOF! Half of your GB usage for the month is gone.

I hope there is a huge uproar about this and they change it back.

Aye..One of the websites I run can require me to upload 6~GB of files a month. That'd be over 10% of my limit there. Not to mention getting the files downloaded in the first place throughout the month..12~GB...it adds up.

Add in some movies and it's gone.

While I don't really embrace the caps and what TW/RR is doing, this as you pasted above is then a business line and you can get business class internet. Sure you pay more for it... but guess why?

We live in an information age.

That was just an example, but I still don't think a similar concept (tele-commuting employees for example, which is pretty much the same), are business class line customers, do you?

Bandwidth is cheap, ask any hosting provider. Time Warner is abusing their position. They are charging roughly $1.15 a gigabyte for bandwidth!

Anyhow, since my last move it doesn't affect me since I am with Verizon, but I still oppose it.

I work in the backbone industry, and am quite aware exactly how much bandwidth costs carriers. Not to mention I deal with hosting providers EVERY DAY. It's not "cheap" or "inexpensive" as you people think.

 

[Phoenix86]

Every few months I read about the effing cable companies (which are my only viable option) and hit up the u-verse/fios sites only to find it's still not available in my area.

Congratulations!
AT&T U-verse is available at the following:

<my house>

 

[Renob]

I live in Austin and will be looking for a new ISP today!!!

Fuck them!!!

Oh by the way I dont rip off media from the interweb, but I watch 90% of my TV off Hulu and the Network websites.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Renob
I live in Austin and will be looking for a new ISP today!!!

Fuck them!!!

Oh by the way I dont rip off media from the interweb, but I watch 90% of my TV off Hulu and the Network websites.

Have they implemented the cap in Austin yet? If not, wait until they do. The purpose of implementing these caps as a trial is to gauge customer reactions and to see how they affect profits. If you leave before they implement it, they won't know it's because of the cap.

 

[aldamon]

Guys, if Earthlink is available in your Road Runner area, switch. I just did. It's something I've thought about doing anyway after the price increase at Road Runner for non-cable customers. Caps being implemented 40 miles down the road in Greensboro sealed the deal. They run on the same network, but Earthlink is quite a bit cheaper, especially for the first 6 months. Should be a seamless switch. Same equipment. Switched in a chat session. After 9 years, so long TWC!

I'm also hoping they stay away from caps since RR's network was opened up to Earthlink to increase competition.