Time Warner announced Wednesday that it will test metered bandwidth plan in Beaumont, Texas that would limit the amount of bandwidth each customer can use each month before additional fees kick in. Simply put, if you're a TW customer the company is about to put a "roof" over your head.

Obviously, the idea behid this proposed plan is to create a mechanism to ensure that anyone who downloads movies, streams online video or downloads large files, etc. will end up paying the highest price possible. Time Warner spokesman has said the billing system will "impact only heavy users," who account for around 5 percent of all their customers but typically use "more than half of the total network bandwidth".

According to the New York Times, the proposed plan structure would mean that even a single high-definition movie download could significantly increase a subscriber's monthly bill:

Let's say you buy a new Apple TV because you want to rent high-definition movies. And say you are about to move to Beaumont, Tex. If so, you might wind up paying Time Warner Cable as much as $30 when you download a movie using its high-speed Internet service.

What struck me here most is the ignorance of ISPs: Instead of gradually upgrading their current network infrastructure and increasing their bandwidth capacity, those fuckers seem to be doing everything in their power to prevent customers like you and me from enjoying our online experience.

Bandwidth caps are still pretty common in some European countries, including Slovakia where I'm from... and I can tell you for free that being under such ceiling is no pleasure at all.