一家以沒有資料上限而自豪的有線電視公司說，你得到資料上限是因為

網際網路資料封頂不像比薩餅，在比薩餅裡吃一片可能意味著其他人吃的更少。我不認為Verge的讀者理解這個概念有困難？眾所周知，網際網路服務提供商不難提供無限量的資料，即使是在（比方說）全球大流行期間，大批民眾突然發現自己在家工作。...

網際網路資料封頂不像比薩餅，在比薩餅裡吃一片可能意味著其他人吃的更少。我不認為Verge的讀者理解這個概念有困難？眾所周知，網際網路服務提供商不難提供無**的資料，即使是在（比方說）全球大流行期間，大批民眾突然發現自己在家工作。

然而，這並沒有停止WideOpenWest（又名哇！）據Ars Technica報道，從2021年6月1日開始，從使用比薩餅來證明全新的，可能是從未見過的有線網際網路使用者的資料上限。

以下是訂戶收到的部分電子郵件：

What’s a monthly data usage plan? Let us illustrate …

Imagine that the WOW! network is a pizza. Piping hot. Toppings galore. Every WOW! customer gets their own slice of pizza, but the size of their slice is dependent on their Internet service plan. While customers who subscribe to 1 Gig get the largest slices, those with Internet 500 get a slightly **aller piece, and so on. But, it’s all the same delicious, high-speed pizza that you know and love.

Now, say you’re not full after your slice and you grab another. That extra slice is like a data overage. Don’t worry—we got extra pizza... umm, data... just in case. If you exceed your data allowance, we’ll automatically apply increments of 50GB for $10 to your account for the remainder of the current calendar month. Total overage charges will not exceed $50 per billing statement no matter how much data you use. Even better—the first time you experience a data overage, we’ll proactively waive fees.

為了解釋這有多荒謬，下面是我去年年底寫的一篇文章，我認為你也可能喜歡閱讀：

Forget for a moment that Comcast itself was caught red-handed explaining that data caps have nothing to do with network congestion. Forget that the CEOs of several **aller ISPs have admitted that internet capacity is anything but scarce. Forget that Comcast disabled its own congestion management system because it found it was unnecessary. Forget even that Comcast is a wildly profitable company whose cable division spends only a tenth of its yearly revenues on keeping that network strong. The proof that data caps are a swindle is something you probably witnessed yourself earlier this year: Comcast, AT&T, and T-Mobile all suspended their data caps when the pandemic hit, and the internet kept on working without a hitch.

這裡的關鍵是，WOW很清楚它的網路與比薩餅不一樣——因為多年來，包括在大流行期間，該公司自豪地誇耀自己沒有資料上限。一位使用者告訴Ars Technica，這是選擇WOW而不是Comcast的原因。

一些證據：

對此我說：哇。

是什麼導致魔獸世界為了盈利而放棄了它的價值觀？我不能肯定，但我敢猜測，康卡斯特最近決定從明年3月至7月的某個時候開始在全美範圍內將資料上限定為標準，這可能會讓它更加大膽。因為這就是美國網際網路“競爭”的現狀：幾乎沒有什麼真正的選擇，以至於當一個ISP獲得利潤時，相鄰的ISP也可以這樣做。如果你被困在一個或兩個錯誤的選擇你住的地方，我建議告訴聯邦通訊委員會。