Time Warner Didn't Even Buy Austin Dinner First

Just when you thought that losing your job wouldn't be so bad because at least now you could catch up on your porn viewing online, Time Warner decides to introduce a cap on just how much you can download in a month. While they claim that they need to meter downloads for their networks, they have been offering superfast vs clogged tube service for years. And don't let the cute Road Runner fool you, Time Warner is painting on a fake pathway on this cliff for all of us and has been for years.

It isn't just that no one CAN compete with Time Warner, it's that they, along with AT&T actively lobby state lawmakers into passing anti-municipal broadband bills. Meaning, they don't want to compete with a possibly free system of getting to the internet. While to some the Internet is an interesting diversion with Facebook and Youtube, to some disabled Americans, it's a lifeline. This is where the situation gets fuzzy where the law comes in, but one of the things that we must all ask ourselves is: is the internet a luxury, or is it a viable communication tool that should be provided to everyone?

Television and radio are bound by law to provide a certain amount of public access. Why not the internet? No one can or will argue that Time Warner has a monopoly. We've known this problem was coming since 2000 when the FCC rather unhelpfully allowed Time Warner and AOL to merge on the premise that they would provide open cable to smaller, competing internet service providers, it never happened.

In fact, according to internetnews.com in 2000, those ISPs were subjected to this agreement, " In addition to the $50,000 ante every competitor is required to pay, 75 percent of subscription revenues would go to Time Warner. Also, the cable provider is demanding 25 percent of any cable-access advertising, web hosting and e-commerce revenues, plus Time Warner advertisements placed on the top of every ISP home page."

Of course, markets in which there is viable competition for broadband cable internet access, Time Warner isn't "rolling out" their new tiered money grabbing scheme. Austin is being plagued with this nonsense only because AT&T found greed such a great idea, that they're rolling out their own tiered system. Both companies are toying with caps as laughably low as 5GB, which any internet-savvy person can tell you can go up in smoke after a particularly active day of exploring Youtube.

So why did this all start, you might ask yourself. Aside from the obvious, that mo' money = mo' bettah to investors, it would seem that Time Warner is looking to not just double dip, but triple dip, trying to steal away business from Netflix and other companies offering set top boxes to beam in movies straight to your television for a much more modest fee than Time Warner's buggy OnDemand service.

At a moment in time when computer hardware prices do the downward spiral, how is it that Time Warner can claim bandwidth is suddenly that much more expensive? Just ask your friendly neighborhood Time Warner Cable PR guy JeffTWC on twitter. He's more than happy to answer your questions, or tell you off, or ask you to email someone else with your Really Hard Questions. Even the email address they give you to complain to is dripping with condescension: realideas@twcable.com.

You want a real idea, Time Warner? Save money on lobbyists by following through on what you promised to do in 2000. Stop blocking municipal broadband. And "17 Again"? Really?