Internet “Metering”

By coincidence, The New York Times has carried a story today, “Charging by the Byte to Curb Internet Traffic.  In an age when everything is going online in a big way - from streaming motion pictures from Apple TV and Netflix to downloading music from iTunes to shopping online in addition to our normal email - the tiny group of big cable conglomerates that control Internet access in America are exploring new ways to restrict and charge more for our Internet access.

Makes me wonder whether their experiments with imposing controls on Internet usage are connected to why my wife has been blocked by Comcast from sending email over her work account when she signs on occasionally from home.  In this case, Comcast is blindly messing with potential life and death human rights and religious freedom issues by blocking email.  I wonder how many other officials in the Washington area are trying today to figure out why they cannot fully check their work email from home.

Feels more than a little Orwellian.