Metered Internet Usage; The Beginning of the End?

[[ I have reposted this here by request, from a Facebook note I wrote earlier in the day, so it can be more publicly accessed and distributed.  While this blog is primarily about my experiences as a Canadian Expat in Paris, it seems a fitting soapbox to speak of affairs back home from time to time too.  Fell free to link to the article, or repost in full on your site with credit, of course. ;) ]]

All this metered internet stuff got me thinking about when and where the divide will come in the internet. Will it simply be at the commercial end of things, with some ISP's offering packages to cater to large data consumers? Or will these sorts of things cause a much greater rift, leading to multiple 'Nets, public and private?

It goes against the whole concept of the internet to have competing networks, full of exclusive data, but it certainly doesn't go against historical precedence. At the highest levels, look at TV. You have numerous channels on each provider, and numerous providers each offering varied services and packages. Granted, most of the content is identical network to network, but that wasn't always so. It has only recently devolved into a pricing war.

How long before we start seeing website addresses in advertisements stating which 'Net to find them on? How long before ISP's start selling access to different networks (Ultranet, Overnet, "Broadnet; All the bandwidth you can handle"), or some networks which are altogether pirate, like pirate radio stations? It may sound like the stuff of cyberpunk fantasy, but it seems like a reasonable, but entirely unpalatable possibility to me.

Then again, perhaps I am just being apocalyptic. Either way, watch you usage and speak to your provider. The new rules are already underway back there.

I would make a bigger stink about it, were I still in Canada, cause Canada is definitely acting as a guinea pig on this one. Don't think for a second that other Big telecoms in other countries aren't watching closely on how this plays out in the Great White North. For the big telecom companies already involved in this one, like Bell, they are in a wonderful win-win situation. Firstly, they are only going to make more money from the ability to charge based on usage and overage. Where they will be charging dollars/gigabyte, their costs for said gigabyte are pennies at best.

With the likely reduction in online entertainment related data consumption, namely through big data consuming activities like Netflix and Youtube, people are going to start taking in less of of their daily entertainment online. This likely means a return to traditional TV based entertainment, and possible even a resurgence of print media consumption (though that's still less likely in my mind), all of which Bell has ownership stake in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTVglobemedia. It must be nice when you can manipulate government policy in such profitable ways, regardless of how they actually serve the public.

In the end, metered usage is BS, and everyone in Canada who uses the internet should be upset. However what comes next could be far worse if this is allowed to stand.