Comcast Rolls Out ‘Data Usage Meter’ to Broadband Customers [View All]

[mcablue]

From technology blog ehomeupgrade.com (December 1, 2009):

It seems everyone wants to regulate our consumption these days. You may be familiar with Smart Meters that track your energy usage on an hourly basis and snitch to the utility company when you’re active during “peak times” so they can justify charging a premium for your indiscretions. Now, broadband providers like Comcast are getting in on the action by capping its monthly usage on home plans to 250GB and dinging you monetarily if you go beyond that. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised that in the future broadband providers calculate your bill according to the type of data you consume — i.e. VoIP, video streams, BitTorrent, etc. (much different than what Net Neutrality proponents warn about, which deals with access). Of course, pushers of these types of meters will tell you it’s for your benefit and convenience so you can know how much energy/data you consume in month.