
Why usage-based billing is a threat to the internet, what can be done to stop it - edward
https://medium.com/backchannel/big-cable-s-sledgehammer-is-coming-down-2c6854e8bea9#.z78912mml
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dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10677465](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10677465)

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jepler
When you have an unregulated monopoly, usage-based billing is just one tool in
their book for extracting more money from customers.

If internet service in the US were not effectively unregulated or not
effectively a monopoly, usage-based billing would not be a problem.

Consider the lowly restaurant. Say a buffet restaurant comes out to $20 per
diner. If you're not a top-10% eater, you could probably go to a menu-based
restaurant and eat as much food as you would care to for just $10; or you
could go to a $40-a-plate restaurant for food of a quality you simply don't
get at either of the other choices.

In my scenario, unless the quantity itself is what you want (and, with data as
well as with food, trust me—it's not), you get neither the cheapest product
nor the best product when you buy the unlimited-quantity product.

If we had a working market for broadband in this country, you would find the
same thing: the cheapest ISP will be cheaper than the unlimited ISP, and the
unlimited ISP will not have the best quality of product available.

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tosseraccount
Nonsense. We pay for water and electricity and gas on a usage basis. If you
pay a fixed price for such utilities, what incentive to you have to use it
efficiently?

Paying by usage will encourage responsible usage of a limited resource.

