With 56% of American Internet connections now capped, advocates ask FCC for probe

With 56% of American Internet connections now capped, advocates ask FCC for probe

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/09/with-56-of-american-internet-connections-now-capped-advocates-ask-fcc-for-probe/

By Stephen C. Webster
Monday, May 9th, 2011 -- 12:34 pm

The practice of capping Internet bandwidth and selling it as a metered commodity has fully taken hold, to the point where 56 percent of U.S. internet connections are now on plans that restrict how much information users can access before triggering additional fees.

For an Internet landscape that's been accustomed to unlimited access to information the world over, this represents a sea-change for many broadband subscribers. And to at least two prominent Washington, D.C. advocacy groups, it's cause for immense concern.

That's why the directors of Public Knowledge and New America's Open Technology Initiative -- two Washington tech policy groups -- have written to the Federal Communications Commission to request they investigate the potential for these practices encouraging anti-competitive activities.

"These caps, which are now a fact of life for 56% of all broadband users, can perniciously undermine each of the goals set out by the Commission in the National Broadband Plan while at the same time stifling the competition and innovation that has established itself as the sine qua non of the internet economy," they wrote.