Just as we breathe a collective sigh of relief over Time Warner's supposed scrapping of plans to meter internet usage, bend over here it comes again. Like something out of an Orwell book, the company plans to launch a new “Customer Education Campaign” in the fall to “teach the public that high prices and internet caps are good for us.” Expect a propaganda onslaught on how the caps will supposedly lower prices for everyone except those few who “abuse” the system. They will claim that “internet brownouts” will occur if these users are not penalized. At the same time they intend to switch everyone over to “turbo” service and introduce speed-increasing technologies like DOCSYS, which will make everyone exceed their quotas even faster. Does this sound familiar? Recall how corporate America justified $4 a gallon gasoline by claiming that it was all the fault of greedy consumers driving SUV's. That was after they sold us SUV's by convincing us small efficient cars weren't safe.

There are several reasons why Time Warner is doing this now. In April, a Net Neutrality bill was passed which prohibited internet carriers from charging different content providers different rates. Such favoritism would have given large corporate providers an unfair advantage. Unable to gouge the providers, now they're going after the users. In May, the Obama administration announced that it will be stepping up enforcement of antitrust laws, something that had largely been ignored under Bush. Right now, phone and cable companies have little or no competition in 97 percent of US markets. This is largely due to corrupt policies that were passed during the last 25 years at the companies' behest. It is easier to sneak increases in the door now, and justify them later, than it is to implement them once authorities really start investigating.

Time Warner is hardly a cash-strapped company. Last year the company enjoyed an 11% quarterly increase in subscribers. Coincidentally, revenue for high-speed internet also increased 11%, to $1.1 billion. Existing revenue from high-speed internet alone could theoretically pay the expenses of the entire company. Even a Time Warner executive, Chief Technology Officer Mike LaJolie, admits that the bandwidth-scarcity argument is a ruse. Supplying customers with increased bandwidth is “basically free.”

Aside from cost there are other reasons why we need to be concerned about stopping these bandwidth caps.

CONTENT
If you want journalism beyond fearmongering, gossip, sensationalism and product placement, you'll need to look past the offerings of corporate media. This is especially true as many printed newspapers and magazines shut down. We need a fast and accessible internet to deliver the audio, video, text and other media essential to an educated populace.

ACCESS
40 percent of American homes still do not have high-speed internet access according to the US Census Bureau. Internet access is far more costly and slower than in 21 other developed countries. Time Warner's pricing plans would put internet access out of reach of tens of millions more Americans.

FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY
Time Warner is trying to start its own internet video service. If you download video from innovators like YouTube, Hulu and BlipTV, you aren't going to be interested in paying for Time Warner's advertising-laden offerings. So users of these services will be penalized as video downloads are bandwidth-intensive, while downloads from Time Warner's service will conveniently be exempted from the cap.

What can we do to stop this? Senator Schumer spoke out loudly against the plan saying “this will not stand in New York State.” Representative Eric Massa (D-NY29) plans to introduce a bill in Congress to curb the practice. We can begin by thanking them. Let's try to get Senator Gillibrand and Reps Slaughter and Maffei on board as well. Rep Massa is looking for a Republican co-sponsor for his legislation. If you live in a Republican district, ask your representative to support him. A loophole in the New York Public Utilities law allows local municipalities to oversee cable TV but not internet. This is because high-speed internet did not yet exist when most cable systems in New York were built. We can contact our NY State Legislators, Governor Patterson, and the Public Services Commission and demand that this oversight be extended to all cable services.

Let's not make this a repeat of the Enron-ing of California. Make lots of noise. Let them know we're onto their game and they are not going to win by cheating us.