Re: [wg-c] Possible solution to lock in?

[Harold Feld <hfeld@mediaaccess.org>]

Dave Crocker wrote:

> At 08:41 AM 11/20/1999 , Roeland M.J. Meyer wrote:
> >Internet does flat-rate billing. At the higher access speeds, it is mostly
> >flat-rate. Only the telcos are even equiped to do volume-based billing. How
>
> This assertion demonstrates an extremely limited awareness of Internet
> services around the globe.  In fact most users outside the U.S. are subject
> to usage sensitive billing.  So are many users INSIDE the U.S.  (Both for
> dial-up and web server activity.)
>

Could you provide a cite for this please?  According to the most recent FCC
publications, few (if any) U.S. citizens pay metered pricing for Internet
services in the
United States.  See, e.g., OPP #31 and Broadband Today: A Report of the
Cable Bureau to Chairman Kennard (both available in pdf from the FCC's
website).  Other sources that indicate that metered pricing is increasingly on
the decline worldwide can be found at http://www.nua.ie/surveys.

Citable contrary evidence would be of enormous value to a number of
consumer advocates with whom I work.

Harold