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John McElhenney, MeterThis.net
One of the reasons why the Internet is much more important than the “go outside and do something else” crowd would have you believe, is the power of netizens to get involved in their government and local communities, and effect change. The online world is unique for organizing and advocating change. It requires almost no money to get started, and you are not subject to the corporate media filter, the high cost of publishing and distribution, or the requirement of expensive advertising to become noticed. The Internet lets you leverage the quality of your information to garner success, instead of having to try and buy it with mass blast advertising.
With just $10 and free software, John McElhenney joined a growing number of online activists voicing their concern with Time Warner Cable’s plans to implement a tier-based billing structure for Internet users in four cities, including San Antonio and Austin. MeterThis.net has given a local voice to the movement opposing usage caps down in high-tech Austin. One person can make a difference, as you’ll hear in this report from David Ruif:
Great piece (the audio clip). Although I have to wonder about the “well you can’t really blame TWC for needing to try something”…? Um – sorry, but data usage caps by Internet Capping Providers are hardly a “something.” While I remain against caps on principle, since I don’t really buy the argument that bandwidth is a scarce resource now, nor will it continue to be in the future, but the Comcast model makes far more sense. However, even with the Comcast model in mind, an ISP really should not assume that BitTorrent traffic, for example, is all being used to… Read more »
Wow, thanks for the coverage Phillip. See how I have our URLs together in the logo. And he did mention StoptheCap.com but he couldn’t get you on the phone for an interview. What fun. But I’d call this a victory for plain old internet communit, social media, web 2.0, groundswell, what have you. We’re both a part of making a difference in how TWC and other providers charge for our access. What if the phone companies tried to go back to a by-the-minute billing system? Even mobile carriers are quickly getting to unlimited. What they will compete on is service… Read more »