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By a large margin, the greatest bandwidth congestion is always caused by various types of streaming and downloading of MEDIA content meant for entertainment. The hunger for media will always overtake infrastructure [think freeway commuting]. While Comcast (who actually charges almost twice the $25/mo. that was just claimed on air) and other providers of infrastructure are clearly failing to stay ahead of the curve by refusing to anticipate the emergence of online media services, there is clearly a difference between internet traffic that is meant for distribution of entertainment media versus what the Net was created to provide: free access to information and communications.

Therefore, I propose that Comcast should be required, as they do across their cable TV networks, to provide Basic Access, in this case to the internet, for the $25 or less that they claim, while the rest of us who thirst for rich media should be willing to pay around twice that (which we already DO) for essentially partitioned network traffic bandwidth as a sort of 2-tiered distribution network. This will guarantee that Everyone still has free access, while generating a proportionate amount of revenue from those of us who are responsible for overtaxing the Broadband networks. It will also improve the business model of broadband providers like Comcast or even Verizon (when they reach congestion capacity, and they will) by providing a more appropriate gauge and revenue structure to anticipate the overwhelming glut of media by building their infrastructure in a more responsive manner.

Finally, this conservative fee-for-service model will provide the platform that can eventually lead to closure of the loophole that prevents media creators such as musicians, film-makers, and writers from receiving the royalties they deserve. Information should always be free to the public, while Entertainment remains a commodity.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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